Immortal Lover
by BillFan45
Summary: Pre Darkfever: Ryodan meets a feisty little American who turns his world upside down. Will he find his soulmate, or will a vow to his past get in the way. Since KMM has not developed his character, I am letting my imagination run free. AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from either the Fever Series or the Highlander series; they are the property of Karen Marie Moning .

I am new to the Fever series having found and read all four books in the last two months. Ijust love the series. Then I started on the HIghlander series and loved them too almost as much.

Karen Marie Moning is a great writer, and I fell in love with Mac and Barrons; they are both such well developed, rich and complex characters that I just have to root for them to finally end up together in Shadowfever. It is clear to me that KMM loves these two characters; some authors get tired of their main characters in a series and unfortunately it shows.

I have written other fics for the Southern Vampire Mystery series (True Blood). When I first thought of doing a fic for Fever, naturally I thought of writing about Mac and Barrons. I soon realized that KMM has developed those two characters so well that there is nothing I could add and would not want to change any thing about either of them. So I decided to write about a character that she hasn't explored much, Ryodan.

My story takes place before the Fever series. It is basically a love story invoving Ryodan, but it also tries to explains my version of what Barrons, Ryodan and the other tall, dark men are. It also explains my version of what drives Barrons to find the Sinsar Dubh. Of course, many would consider this an alternate universe, but I hope it is a good read anyway.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 1

Soaked to the skin from a heavy rain, Leni Hammond stood outside her ground floor apartment door listening to the phone inside ringing loudly. She was wearing a long raincoat, but the waterproofing had long since disappered, She was cold, wet and clammy. She shivered in the cold morning air, her breath fogged up the window on her front door.

The phone kept ringing; the noise was constant and extremely irritating. She sighed heavily as she hoped the sound wouldn't wake Frank, her elderly next door neighbor. He was such a light sleeper, and he was a crank He complained about everything and everyone. Frank was bound to call her landlord and complain again. She didn't want to get another letter from. She had gotten three warnings for this very thing in the short time that she had lived here. The next letter would be an official notice to vacate the premises for violating her lease. She liked this apartment and didn't want to move.

it was almost three o'clock in the morning; Leni had just finished a twelve hour shift at the hospital where she worked. It was the second twelve hour shift she had worked this week, and she was bone tired. Her back was stiff and her head pounded; she knew if she didn't get some sleep soon, she was going to fall flat on her face. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone right now.

She didn't have to guess who was calling. Her Irish cousin, Bridget, was the only one obnoxious enough to call at this late hour. She probably expected to wake her from a sound sleep; Bridget got a kick out of doing things like that. Of course, her beautiful cousin was a well known international model and usually spent most of her nights club-hopping with friends, so Leni never got the chance to return the favor.

Twenty two year old Bridget McDonald was a six foot tall golden goddess. She was stunningly beautiful with long, silky, perfectly straight, light blonde hair that cascaded down to her waist. She had the face of an angel; most normal women suffered by comparison. Bridget's wide violet eyes and generous smile graced the cover of many fashion magazines. Her regal, statuesque body, covered by a barely there bikini, frequently made the cover of several sports magazines. Bridget was well paid for her work and worth every penny she nade, Men of all ages frequently found themselves tongue-tied and falling all over themselves trying to vie for a smile from Bridget, but right now, the last thing that Leni wanted to do was talk to her gorgeous cousin; once Bridget got on the phone, she yakked for hours.

The fact that her aching arms were were filled with two heavy plastic bags of groceries purchased before her shift started, making it almost impossible for Leni to open her apartment door in time to answer the phone, didn't help matters either. Both bags were wet from the downpour, and one was torn and dangerously close to spilling its contents all over her front stoop. Leni prayed she had enough time to get inside and drop the damn thing on the armchair closest to the door before the carton of eggs inside the bag decorated her the beige plush carpet. If she had to clean up the mess from a dozen broken eggs, she 'd never get to bed.

As she fiddled blindly with wet housekeys, the whole keyring started to slide. Quickly moving her leg up against the door, Leni snagged the keys on the last button of her raincoat. The keys hung precariously threatening to fall the last foot to the door mat. Holding her breath, she finally grabbed the keys and managed to get the door open.

Stepping inside, Leni kicked her shoes off, closed the door with a swing of her hip and dropped the torn bag on the chair. She heard the lock click shut as she headed to the kitchen with the other bag. By the time she made it to the kitchen table, the phone stopped ringing. A second later, her cellphone rang. She fished it out of her handbag and flipped it open. Sure enough, the caller ID read Bridget McDonald.

"Bridget, do you realize what time it is over here? It's three o'clock in the morning. I worked a double shift tonight, and I just got home. I am dead tired and not in the mood to chat. Can't this wait?" she snapped at her cousin.

Bridget only laughed. "I'm sorry, Munchkin. It's eight in the morning here in Dublin, and I've been calling you for hours. I just couldn't wait to tell you my big news."

"Don't call me that. What big news?"

"You'll always be Munchkin to me, shrimp, so don't fight it. And my big news is that I'm getting married on May tenth, and I want you here. I want you to be my Maid of Honor. I want you to come over ASAP to help me prepare for the wedding." Bridget laughed again; she sounded exhilarated.

"Just because you're a tall, ugly, skinny ass bitch doesn't mean you get to call me names, Beanpole. Besides, May tenth is barely three weeks away, and I just can't drop everything like _some_ people can. I have a real job, unlike you." Leni shot back; her tiredness completely forgotten; Bridget had her full attention now.

"If you call emptying bedpans a real job, I feel sorry for you, cousin." Bridget said sarcastically.

"I don't just empty bedpans. I work in the ER. I get to clean up blood and guts too, remember?" Leni shot back. For a few minutes, the two girls traded insult after insult, trying to see who could be the most creative and flamboyant in their name calling, until they both laughed. It was a game that that they played almost every time they talked.

Bridget had spent every summer for almost fifteen years at the New Jersey shore with Leni and their late maternal grandmother, Catriona O'Gallagher. Leni and her grandmother often spent the Christmas holidays in Dublin with Bridget, her parents and her younger brother, Sean. Although Leni was a few months younger than Bridget, the two girls had become the best of friends. They were closer than most sisters.

Leni had spoken to Bridget just last weekend; they scyped, texted, and facebooked each other on a regular basis, but her cousin had never mentioned anything about a new man in her life. Not that Leni expected her to: Bridget had gone through a bad breakup with a long-time boyfriend only five weeks ago. She called Leni and cried on the phone for hours.

Leni knew exactly how she felt: just a few weeks before that, she had broken off her own relationship with her fiance, Dr. Philip Roberts, and cried on the phone to Bridget in Dublin. She had met Philip when she started working as a nurse in the ER at the Raritan Bay Hospital in Old Bridge a year year ago. She had been attracted to the twenty nine year old surgeon from the start. They started dating after a couple of weeks, and she moved in with him three months later. They talked about getting married, and Philip even bought her an engagement ring. They made quite a striking pair.

Philip was tall, dark, and extremely handsome. He could charm the pants off a nun. The nurses had a beefcake poster of him hanging on the wall of their lounge. At one hundred and seventy five pounds, his frame was lean, rugged and muscular. His nicely tanned complexion complimented his dark brown hair and amber eyes. He had a easy smile with perfect white teeth, and when he turned his charm on Leni, she though her heart would burst out of her chest. Leni knew she was a goner from that day on. At twenty one, Leni Hammond was in truly in love for the first time in her life.

Leni was pretty in the "girl next door" kind of way. Five foot one in her stocking feet, she often wore four inch heels to make herself look taller. She had a fair complexion and long, curly, dark blonde hair that never did what she wanted it to. Her hair tended to frizz easily, so she usually wore it in a simple french braid or a low pony tail held in place by a scrungy. Her petite frame sported a nicely rounded body with curves in all the right places. She had shapely legs, trim ankles, small feet and smal, softl hands.

Her wide violet eyes were her best feature: they were intelligent, warm, friendly and framed by long, brown lashes. They were often filled with merriment because Leni had a great sense of humor and liked to laugh a lot. She wasn't beautiful by conventional standards, but when she smiled, her face lit up, and she was stunning in her own right.

Leni found out the hard way that Philip had been two timing her all along with several other nurses at the hospital. Apparently, everyone else in the ER seem to know he was a romeo, except her. She walked into a linen supply closet early one morning and caught Philip with his pants down around his ankles having sex with Anna Jones, another nurse who worked in the ER.

Leni took off her engagement ring and threw it in Philip's face. She moved out of his apartment that afternoon. She switched to the afternoon shift two days later and worked two to ten at night to avoid seeing him at the hospital, but it wasn't necessary. Philip moved to Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick a few weeks later, so did Anna Jones.

Now, on her cellphone, Leni peppered her cousin with rapid fire questions while she put the groceries away. "When did this happen? Did you and Jimmy get back together? If not, who's the guy? How long have you known him? How did you meet? Why didn't you tell me about him before? Didn't you just tell me last week that you were still in love with Jimmy?"

"I wasn't engaged until last night. You are the first one I've told. I haven't even told my parents or my brother. I met Tegan a month ago in a bar in Dublin called Chester's. I can't wait until you meet him. He's so handsome, he could have any woman he wants; I can't really believe he wants me. He is so different from any other man I have ever met. I swear it was love at first sight. I have been out with him almost every night since, and I moved in with him a week ago."

"Last night he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. He's fantastic, and I just can't explain to you the way he makes me feel, Leni. I want to be with him so much, I hate it when I have to leave him to go to work in the morning. I've never felt this way about a man before, not even Jimmy. I am so happy, I just can't believe it!" The words gushed out of Bridget like a water over Niagara Falls.

Leni was stunned; she was concerned about what she was hearing.

"What do you mean, you can't believe he wants you. You are the most beautiful woman I know, Bridget. Any man would have to be blind if he didn't want you. But you've only known this guy for what, a month? And you're going to marry him already? Are you nuts? What's the rush? Why don't you take your time and get to know him a little better before you rush off into something as permanent as marriage? If it's the real thing, he'll wait. By the way, how come you never mentioned this guy to me before? Why all the secrecy?"

"I wasn't trying to keep him a secret from you, Leni. I was so afraid if I said anything to anybody about Tegan, I would just bollix up everything, and I don't want to lose him. I know I haven't known him long, but I feel like I have known him all my life. Besides, I didn't say anything to you because I knew you would react exactly the way you are doing now. I want you as my Maid of Honor, but even if you refuse, I am going to marry him anyway. Please say you will come, I need you. You are my best friend," Bridget pleaded.

At that last remark. Leni's heart melted. Bridget always knew she would do anything for her. Besides, she had two weeks of vacation coming, and Della Grant, the ER Head Nurse and her boss, had been insisting that she use it or lose it. She had tentatively scheduled to take time off in late May, but since the ER had its full complement of nurses, she should have no problem taking her vacation next week. Of course, if she were going to stay for the wedding, she would have to ask for an extra week without pay.

She was pretty sure Della would approve her request since she thought Leni was working too hard. But what Della didn't know is that Leni had wanted the extra time at work; it helped her keep her mind off her cheating ex-fiance. Besides, Phil had been appearing at her apartment and leaving messages on her cellphone begging her to take him back. She wanted nothing to do with him anymore and told him so. Phil persisted and was making her life miserable. She was tired of his antics and wanted him to just get out of her life.

"Okay, I'll come. I'll be your Maid of Honor, but I won't pretend that I understand any of this. I think you're acting too quickly, but it's your life." Leni finally said.

"Wonderful! Great! I just knew you would do it, so I already booked you a round trip ticket. Your flight leaves Newark at ten next Tuesday morning. I'll email you the details. I'll pick you up at the airport when you get here. Don't worry about the expense: everything is all ready paid for." Bridget cried happily.

"Bridget McDonald, you are too much. Now shut up and get off my phone!"

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I have a few ideas where I want to go with this. Please review and let me know if you think it is worth pursuing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Snow and ice blanketed the airport as Ryodan sat in the terminal waiting for his British Airways flight to Dublin. As if the failure of his mission wasn't enough, a freak late season blizzard caught the whole Northeast Region unprepared. Here he was with two of his men, stuck for more than four hours in god-forsaken Newark, New Jersey, one of the ugliest places in this whole damn country. Their big bodies were crammed into the tiny seats of the boarding area. Ryodan cursed the fates that brought them here.

Ryodan had never liked the U.S. He hated the "melting pot" concept which gave the Americans no true indigenous culture of their own. He hated the people and their flat accents. He hated the crowds and the dirtiness. He hated the bigness and the openness of this country. He hated the smug attitude of Americans who thought they were God's gift to the world. He hated how stupid they were: they had no idea of the danger that surrounded them.

Like most humans, they were blind to everything except the physical world around them; they believed only that which their puny human eyes could see. There was so much more out there; so much danger that their limited minds could not comprehend. Elements of the Tuatha De Danaan, the Fae, a powerful immortal race, so far evolved that mere human eyes could not see them, was even now preparing to take over this planet and enslave them once again as they had millennia before.

In truth, Americans weren't the only ones blind to the dangers of the Fae; no human, except a sidhe-seer, could see or comprehend the Fae. Still the people of British Isles were at least civilized, and many knew of the old legends and some still believed. Ryodan felt a physical need to leave this blasted country behind. He wanted to be in Dublin, the city he had called home for many years.

As he sat staring at the passengers crowding the terminal like so many rats in a maze, anger at Daegus MacKeltar consumed him. His leader, Zigor, who called himself Jericho Barrons these days, would be furious when he found out how close they had gotten to obtaining the singing stone at the auction on Sunday night. In the end, they lost it to a higher bidder. MacKeltar won the bid. How he had managed that, Ryodan would like to know. MacKeltar was wealthy, but the Fae relic went for over five million dollars; he never thought the Scotsman had that kind of money; he certainly had never bid that high before.

He, Lor and Angus had tried to steal the stone from MacKeltar's New York penthouse last night. The human druid had been infected by their own Draghar magic, but his puny wards could not keep them out. They were not human, they were pure Draghar. Their magic was older, stronger and so much more powerful, but that didn't matter; the stone wasn't there. They had found out from the doorman at his apartment building that MacKeltar had left for Scotland almost immediately after the auction and more than likely had taken the stone with him. They searched his apartment anyway, trashing the place. He wanted Mackeltar to know that he couldn't keep them out, no matter what.

In Dublin, Zigor already had one of the stones. They would just have to find another way to get the remaining three. They had been lost for centuries, and were now just surfacing. They would help Zigor get the magic book too. With the four stones, they would be able to de-cipher the Sinsar Dubh, the most powerful book of black magic that ever exishted. They would use its magic to set things right again.

They would bring their loved ones back, and they would kill the Unseelie king. He, who was once one of their kind; he, who had once been their king. He was a being they had once loved above all others; a being they had lived to serve; a being they had killed for and would have died for. But their powerful, immortal king had betrayed them. He would not say the name of the Unseelie king, because names had power, and Ryodan would not give the king that power.

The Draghar were an ancient race of shape-shifters; their natural form was that of a horned beast. Their race was powerful and could manipulate the laws of nature and physics to their will, and they were immortal. Thirteen thousand years ago, five hundred of them had come to this planet through a portal before their own planet was destroyed. There were females among the them, but they had all died soon after arrival.

This planet was only one of hundreds that their scientists had thought would be able to sustain their lifeform. Scouts had sent to investigate the planet years before and stayed a few days before they returned home to Zaghar.

Their group was the first of many that were scheduled to colonize the earth, but the portal had been destroyed in the bloodshed and riots that had afflicted their dying planet. They were the first, but they were also the last. Too late, they realized that the scouts had not spent enough time here to realize the dangers they encountered.

When they got here, they assumed the form of the most intelligent species on the planet: that of human beings. The cautiously tried to intermingle with them, but they soon discovered that this yellow sun's ultraviolet rays affected them much differently than rays of their own blue sun. Until they acclimated, a part of each daylight period had to be spent in the dark in their natural beast form to regenerate. That left them somewhat vulnerable, although their beast form was fierce and almost impossible to destroy.

The atmosphere was different too, and some of them sickened and died within months, including most of their females. Those females who survived were sterile and died out within years. Slowly their bodies become more acclimated to the sun and the atmosphere. They needed to spend less and less time in their natural form. Today they only needed to spend a few hours a month as a beast, although sometimes they did it for much longer for the pure animal joy it gave them. It was in this form that they slept and took sustenance. They killed their prey like the animals they were and ate their fill.

They had landed in what was now Ireland. For a time they kept to themselves and lived deep in the forests away from the indigenous tribes. After their females died, they moved out and lived among the humans. Their human form was perfect compared to the men of the tribes. They were all large, immensely strong men, well over six feet tall. Their black hair, slanted obsidian eyes and golden skin stood out among the natives. Their bodies were thick and well muscled without an ounce of fat on them. They covered their human bodies with tattoos that sparked with the electricity of their magic.

They were warriors of unparallelled fierceness and strength. All humans lived in fear and awe of the Draghar. To their unsophisticated eyes, they were mighty, all powerful gods, and they worshiped them. They were immortal; they could not be killed by spear, or sword, or fire, or disease; their bodies healed fast. They never tired, and they never needed to eat or sleep. They could move faster than the wind; they could hear a leaf drop in the forest ten miles away. They could coerce the humans to their will by merely using their voice, and they seem to read minds.

The Draghar soon found that the human body was possessed of emotions and passions that were unlike those of other species they had encountered. The human females especially attracted them. They not only felt lust, but they felt love for these women, an emotion that was unknown to them in their natural state.

To satisfy these emotions, Draghar males mated with human women, but the begetting of progeny was very rare. It happened only with certain females who had magical powers of their own. These women were almost always high priestesses in their clans. In later years, many of these women became sidhe-seers: those who can see the fae.

As the years passed, they taught some of their magic to the human druid priests. The druids were bound to them by this magic, but the relationship was mutually beneficial. In return for magical knowledge, the druids performed rituals to them and honored them. They watched over them in their beast form.

The Tuatha De Danaan, also known as the Fae, came to this planet three thousand years after the Draghar. They called themselves, Seelie. They came by the millions through their own portal just before their planet was destroyed. They were shapeshifers too. Their natural forms were pure energy, and as such, they could not be even be perceived by humans beings without blinding them.

They were also immortal, magical beings of immense power, but their magic was not as powerful as the Draghar. The Draghar could kill the Fae, but Fae could not kill Draghar. The Fae came in many different castes and intriguing forms. The highest caste took on human form; their hair, skin and eyes shimmered in iridescent colors. Still, they could not be seen by most humans, only those females known as sidhe-seers. The sidhe-seers had a power that saved many humans lives after the Fae devised the Great Hunt. Fae in all their forms hunted down humans and used them for their pleasure until the humans died or killed themselves.

Unlike the Draghar, the fae were indolent, corrupt beings who lived only to feel physical pleasure in all its forms. They considered themselves immensely superior to the humans who lived on this planet. The humans were not considered sentient beings to the Fae; they little more than insects. Earth became their playground, and the humans became their toys; humans existed only to give the fae pleasure of all sorts.

The Fae were intrigued by the humans and their emotions, especially the females. They hunted them. The highest caste possessed such sexual power, they drove the human women mad with insatiable lust while they were raped in every way imaginable. They addicted human females to sex; they became pri-yah. The Fae were soulless monsters who were endlessly entertained by this.

Once pri-yah, these women lived only to give and receive sex. Since most human women could not even see the Fae as they were being raped, other humans thought they had gone insane. Even after the Fae were done with them, the women were still addicted and needed unending sex. The affected humans often attacked others. They eventually died of starvation and thirst, by being sexed to death, or by being killed by other humans.

The Draghar could see and interact with the Fae, but except for the king, they could not abide these disgusting creatures. The Fae were all beautiful beings, especially those of their highest caste who could take on human form. The Draghar king was captivated by their beauty. Eventually, he met and fell in love with their beautiful queen and married her.

Their king began to immerse himself in Fae ways and customs, taking on many of their characteristics and attitudes towards humans. He learned their magic and added it to his. He began to change; he became as possessed and controlled by his passions and lusts as the fae were. It was as if he became Fae himself and forgot about the Draghar. He became dark and self centered, and many Draghar began to consider him evil.

The king was arrogant and proud. The Fae were a matriarchal race and did not recognize the king as their ruler, only as the consort of their queen. The Draghar had always been a patriarchal society ruled by males. The arrogance of the lesser race grated on him. He became obsessed with bringing the fae to heel. He became jealous of his queen and began to hate her. He schemed against her and the other fae; he wanted to take her power.

Using his own magic, he created a new army of vile beings to help him. The unspeakable Unseelie were his new warriors. He also created the Unseelie hallows and the book of dark magic, the Sinsar Dubh, to help him in his quest.

After a huge battle, the Fae were eventually driven from earth, but that did not stop the king. Once his affection for the Seelie queen had faded, he frequently returned to earth and turned his attention to back to human females to satisfy his deep lusts. Still, Zigor and his Draghar army loved and followed their king, until he committed the ultimate betrayal.

Like the Fae, the king toyed with his human women until he tired of them and cast them away. One day the king saw and became obsessed with a beautiful sidhe-seer named Ariel. She was both a princess and a high priestess with great natural magic of her own. Zigor was the head of the king's army, and Ariel was was his human wife, but the king did not care.

Considering her a worthy vessel for his pleasure, the king kidnapped her to be his concubine. He stole her from her home, while Zigor was sent away by him on a useless mission. The king cruelly left their infant son alone to starve and die. He took Ariel to Faery where he kept her for centuries until his queen found out about her. Ariel did not love him, but he used both his Draghar and Fae magic to keep her bound to him. Zigor came home and found his dying son only moments before the child took his last breath.

Zigor hated the Fae, and he hated the king for what he had done and vowed revenge. He hated him as much as he once loved him. His men also hated the king for what he had done and what he had become. Zigor, along with his men, tried to take his Ariel back from Faery, but she died in the attempt. The king was so distraught with the loss of his concubine that he destroyed most of the Draghar and their human families. Now there was only nine of them left. That was three thousand years ago.

Tall, dark haired and beautiful, a veritable amazon among human woman, Ryodan's beloved wife, Zayida, was killed along with the others. She was also a sidhe-seer and eight months pregnant with their son. Roydan hated the king as much as Zigor did. He swore that Zayida, would live again, as would Zigor's wife and son, and the wives and families of the other men.

Ryodan had taken many human women to his bed over the centuries, using them to slake his lusts. He sometimes kept them for years, but he never fell in love again, and he never married again. Only Zayida was his true mate. The same was true for Zigor and Ariel.

Led by Zigor, they would use the stones and the Sinsar Dubh to turn back time and change history. They would bring their wives and families back to life. They would return this planet back to the way it was when they arrived here, when it was a lush, verdant Eden. It would be cleaner, without the masses of people and the technology that polluted the air and the water.

They would use the very book of dark magic created by the king himself to destroy him and all the Fae. Both Seelie and Unseelie, would be completely destroyed, even if it meant completely destroying this world and most of the humans on it.

The Zaghar would reign supreme once again with Zigor, their leader, as their new king. The druids would worship and protect them again. They had waited patiently for millennia for this chance to correct the horrible mistakes of the past. According to Zigor, the end was in sight. But for right now, all Ryodan and the others could do was wait.

Ryodan sat in his seat and looked on the humans milling about the terminal with boredom and contempt in his ancient eyes. His dark eyes fell on a small, blonde woman about ten yards away talking animatedly on her cellphone. She looked young, barely older than a high school student. He watched as her wide violet eyes flashed in anger; he could hear that she was clearly arguing with a man. For just a brief second, she looked up; her eyes met his, and then she looked away.

Ryodan felt disappointed when the girl looked away; he wanted her to keep looking at him. A familiar feeling of electricity surged through his big body, causing the hair on his arms to raise. That hadn't happened in a long, long time, so long, in fact, he could not remember the last time. He wondered if things were about to change.

"British Airways Flight number ... to Dublin is now ready to board..." The flight attendant announced in a tired voice.

When the First Class passengers were allowed to board, Ryodan and his two men lifted themselves out of their seats and headed up the gangway. They took their seats in the front row. He was pleased to note that the blonde was sitting beside him next to the window. She seemed different from other women somehow.

Curiosity about the little human female consumed him; he wanted to get to know her. For the first time in centuries, Ryodan felt a stirring of interest.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Late Tuesday night, four hours after its scheduled departure time, Leni boarded a British Airways 777 bound for London. Her flight had been delayed due to an unexpected late April snowstorm. In London, she would transfer to a much smaller plane to Dublin to complete the almost eleven hour journey.

Like all the other passengers, she was tired, cranky and bored from the wait, but there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She spent her time listening to music on her IPod, except for when she was talking with Bridget or arguing with Philip on her cellphone. Philip was becoming a definite problem, one that she knew she would have to take care of when she returned. She wasn't looking forward to that prospect. But at least she had one good thing to look forward to: when she called Bridget to inform her of her flight delay, she was pleased to hear that the weather in Dublin was cool, but clear.

Entering the cabin, Leni showed the flight attendant her ticket and turned left. She could barely suppress a satisfied sigh as she headed for her seat in the front of the plane. She found her seat number, took off her parka and stowed it along with her purse and laptop in the small storage space provided. She sat down in the large, rear facing comfortable seat and grinned.

She had been pleasantly surprised when Bridget emailed her the details of her flight. Always the one with a flair for the dramatic, her cousin had booked her a seat in first class. Of course, Leni made a token protest that first class wasn't necessary, but Bridget insisted, and she didn't argue; Bridget could easily afford it. She often joked to Leni that first class was the only way to flly. Besides her cousin knew how much she hated flying, so she added an extra bonus to the trip.

She couldn't believe how big the first class cabin on the big British Airways jet was. She expected something a lot less crowded than what she was used to in economy or coach, but she never expected this much space. The seats in first class all faced backwards, so her seat was in the row closest to the front of the plane. There were only four large seats to a row, a single window seat on either side of the plane, separated from two large middle seats by a small aisle. The seats were angled slightly to allow for full extension into a flat bed. Her seat was like her own little private space. Not having someone sit next to her, crowding her was great. The fact that she would not have to crawl over two or three other passengers when she needed to go to the bathroom was even better.

She was happy to find out from the internet that her seat turned into a bed; she intended to get a good rest on the London leg of her journey; she needed it after this hell of a day. She had worked overtime last night and had barely gotten to sleep when she was awakend by Philip who was banging on her door at three o'clock this morning. She wouldn't let him in, and he wouldn't stop banging. In the end, she had to call the cops who forced him to go. A few hours later, he began calling on the phone, so she disconnected her landline and shut off her cellphone. She barely got a few hours of sleep before she had to get ready and leave for the airport. He left ten messages on her cellphone.

At the airport, she finally answered his call and argued with him, insisting that he leave her alone. He demanded to know where she was; she told him it was none of his business. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, only that she needed a few weeks off. Philip wanted to get back together; she told him, "When hell freezes over." Finally, she threatened to get a restraining order if he didn't leave her alone. She was sitting in a seat between a column and a large potted plant; the seat was a little secluded from the other passengers; still, she spoke quietly so no one else could hear. The intensity of her voice must of carried, because three large men sitting about ten feet away were watching her intently. She was in a very bad mood and felt like giving them the finger.

She wiggled her butt into the leather seat a few times to get good and comfortable. After fastening her seatbelt, she looked casually around at the cabin as the passengers in the other sections boarded the plane. Sitting next to her across the aisle was a tall, dark, rugged looking man who looked to be about thirty or so. He was one of the men staring at her in the boarding area; the other two were sitting in the same row talking. Although she couldn't tell for sure, he was a least six feet three and weighed about two hundred fifty pounds which were packed on a lean muscular frame.

Thick, gleaming hair as black as a raven's wing was combed straight back from a high, wide forehead and tied with a black leather band at the nape of his thick neck. Slightly slanted, large, clear dark brown or black eyes, she couldn't tell which, were framed in long, thick, black lashes. His strangely haunted but beautiful eyes glowed with intelligence and an inner fervor. Regular features, a golden complexion, angular face, high cheekbones, well formed ears, wide sensual lips and perfectly straight, large, white teeth complimented his big face.

A broad chest, heavily muscled shoulders, a flat abdomen that hinted strongly of a six pack, bulging arms that looked as strong as a lumberjack's, were clothed in a simple, but expensive tan V-neck sweater. Leni could see just a hint of short, dark curls peaking above the neckline below the hollow of his throat. His sleeves were pushed up on revealing strong forearms. A wide silver cuff encircled one massive wrist, and a platinum Rolex watch graced the other. Tight black jeans encased slim hips and long, perfectly shaped legs with muscular thighs and calves. A black leather belt with a large, engraved silver buckle surrounded a trim waist. Black leather cowboy boots tipped in silver clad really big feet.

He was simply the most gorgeous male Leni had ever seen, better looking even than Phil, and that was saying something. Except for the impressive white scar that ran from his ear down his neck to his left shoulder, he looked perfect enough to be a male model. Strangely enough, the scar did not detract in any from his perfection. If anything, it made him look fierce and wild, like a mighty, ancient pagan god. He sat easy and graceful in his seat with his long legs stretched out casually in front of him. He reminded Leni of a great black panther resting sleepily before he made his next kill.

Leni instinctively knew this man was no mere male model; he radiated masculinity, arrogance, power and authority. The way he held is body erect and the way moved, told her that he was a highly trained soldier; she guessed he was a Navy Seal or some sort of Special Ops agent at one time; he probably still was.

He was a man who commanded and expected to be obeyed. An aura of sexuality, so raw and primal it was electric, surrounded him. She didn't have to be told that this man was completely self-aware: he knew exactly who he was and what he wanted. She knew without a doubt, he would ruthlessly do whatever it took to get his way. Everything about him screamed, "Danger, danger! Beware!"

Their eyes met. Leni blushed, ebarrassed that she was caught staring at him. His lips curled up in a lazy, seductive, knowing smile as his eyes moved slowly from her face down to her breasts and remained there for a few seconds; his smile broadened as if saying he was satisfied with what he saw. Slowly and insolently, he moved his eyes back up to hers, lifted an eyebrow and winked at her. His pink tongue slid over his bottom lip. He moved his eyes down to his crotch, knowing her eyes would follow. He was in a state of semi-arousal and he wanted her to see it. He shifted a little in his seat to make it even easier for her.

Leni watched him with a sense of disgusted fascination. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't believe that she just had told herself that this guy was gorgeous; he was a pig. His crude attempt to attract her attention was a real turn off, and yet...

She steeled her spine and realized that if he had only said hi, or attempted to talk to her like a normal person, she would have gladly talked to him, but this... yuk, with a capital "Y". She bet he had used this crude come-on a thousand times before; some women liked that sort of thing; she didn't happen to be one of them. Still, his eyes, his smile and his very body language told her he fully expected her to be thrilled by his invitation. _Well not this time, cowboy,_ she thought.

"Wow! Is that for me? You shouldn't have," she said sarcastically "Ew, what a pervert! Does that really work for you? You gotta be kidding me," Leni looked him square in the eyes and snorted loudly. Shaking her head and turning away to watch his reflection in the window over her left shoulder, she saw his eyes widen in surprise; his mouth dropped open a little.

_Wow! This guy sure isn't use to rejection,_ Leni thought. _Well, that's just too bad. If there's anything I hate, it's an arrogant, conceited asshole who thinks he's God's gift to women, and this guy sure takes the blue ribbon prize. I've had more than enough of that with Philip, and I'm sure not going there again._ _Arrogant prick,_ she said to herself just to prove her point.

Ryodan sat staring at the little blonde in the seat next to the window. He was stunned by her reaction; he was also angry. That had never happened to him before; no woman had ever rejected him; not once. Old or young, pretty or plain, they were all the same, when he wanted a woman, they not only came to him willingly; they often fought over him. Throughout his long, long life he had used thousands of women; the way he wanted to use the little blonde.

He was a good lover; he took pleasure and gave pleasure in return. He treated his women well; he was not cheap; he lavished money and expensive gifts them. Sometimes he provided them with an apartment or a home. Sometimes he even let them work.

While they were with him, they belonged to him, and he denied them nothing. The only thing he demanded in return was absolute loyalty; he would not allow another man to touch what was his. He, on the other hand, never denied himself sexual pleasure when he wanted it. He never promised to be faithful; he never promised love or commitment; in fact, he reminded them that all he was interested in was sex.

When he tired of them, he sent them sent them on their way with more gifts and good memories. If they were unwilling to go, he simply wiped their mind of his memory, and they none were the wiser. No one ever got hurt. Sometimes they were with him for a few weeks; sometimes they were with him for years, but he never let himself become attached. He never wanted to.

He never loved any of them. The only woman he had ever loved was his wife, Zayida. She made him truly happy for the first time in his life. He would never be happy again until he found a way to bring her back. Although human, Zayida was everthing to him; he never wanted another woman as much before or since. She was his life; she was the only bright spot in his long, long life.

He was getting tired of Moira, his current mistress. She was a tall, red head with green eyes and milky, white skin that was as soft as silk. She owned her own travel agency and was the picture of a modern, independent woman. They had been together for almost five years now, longer than he usually stayed with a woman. She had unique skills in bed; she was very creative and her boundless lust almost matched his. Now, however, Moira was starting to cling; she was showing signs of jealousy which was always a sure sign that she would have to go soon. He had no time for a jealous female.

The little blonde attracted him like honey attracted a bee. She wore blue jeans that emphasized her small, shapely high rounded butt and slim legs; Her mauve sweater with its long sleeves made her violet eyes seem luminescent. The neckline was fairly modest, but still showed a little cleavage; he liked that. She had nice, full breasts for a woman so small; he imagined his hands and mouth on them. Her feet were tiny with a high arch; she was wearing old fashioned penny loafters with a shiny penny in each and colorful woolen socks.

She was petite, much smaller than the women who usually attracted him. She wasn't beautiful, or even stiking, like his other women, but she was kind of pretty in her own way. She looked intelligent and interesting. He liked the way her long, curly blonde hair flowed down her back; it looked soft and silky and so alive; he wanted to fist it in his hands as he had sex with her. He liked her flashing violet eyes; he wanted to see them darken with passion just for him. She looked young; he usually liked his women older and more sophisticated, but he could teach her how to please him. Her skin glowed with health and looked incredibly soft; he wanted to feel that skin hot, wet and naked beneath him while he pumped into her.

She had shown a temper while she was talking with a man on her cellphone; she had frowned as she told him she never wanted to see him again. Ryodan liked hearing that, but he wanted to see her luscious mouth curved up in a smile. He had hoped to get to know her. He had hoped would give him a few hours pleasure, even if it was just one time. Yet this little nothing, this little bitch had refused him. _What is the matter with her?_ He thought.

Beside him, Lor and Angus snickered. They had watched him as he stared at the girl in the terminal, and they and heard what had just transpired. They had no doubt what he was doing; they had seen him in action in before. They both did the same thing with women many times, but they were surprised also. They had never seen Ryodan refused by a woman; especially one so small and plain as this one was.

"She's kind of young for you, isn't she, Ry? She isn't your type; she's too small and skinny. Besides, won't Moira be pissed?" Lor said in Gaelic with a grin on his face.

"Shut the fuck up. This isn't over. I'll get her before I am though. I'll make her regret her words; never doubt it," Ryodan snarled back at them. He sat and stewed while the other passengers continued to board.

As the big British Airways jet rumbled down the tarmac preparing to take off. Leni could feel the plane vibrate as mighty jet engines strained hard to gain enough speed to defy gravity and fling them into the sky. The wind howled like a banshee; snow and ice still pelted the plane, hammering hard against its skin, but the intensity of the storm had lessened significantly from several hours ago. Still, Leni sat white faced with fear as she tried to hold back the scream building up at the back of over throat. Just when she thought she would lose control, she managed to take a deep breath; first one, then two, then three. Her fear lessened, but only a little bit.

Leni hated flying, she always had, but take off and landing frightened her the most. Today, taking off during any kind of bad weather brought back horrible memories of the accident that had claimed her parents lives more than 12 years before. Thomas and Sarah Hammond were killed along with sixty other passengers when their plane exploded shortly after eight o'clock at night during takeoff off in heavy winds and snow. A passenger in a plane waiting to take off on another runway had captured the event on film.

Leni was at home in Los Angeles with Clara, her nanny. They had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and had both went into the den to watch television for an hour before Leni went to bed. Clara grabbed the remote and just clicked the set on when a sharp pain, sizzled through the soft tissue of Leni's brain like a bolt of white lightning. She clutched her head and whimpered in agony as the pain intensified and ripped through her mind. A sudden vision of an exploding ball of fire blinded her vision. The smell of burning flesh, metal and plastic was so strong she gagged and almost threw up all over the white sofa.

Leni clasped her hands over her ears to block out the sounds of people screaming and yelling in terror and torment. She was enveloped in a sense of loss that felt deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon. She knew from someplace deep within her that both of her parents were dead; the mental bond she had with them, especially with her mother, from the time she was an infant was gone. Leni closed her eyes tightly for a moment. When she opened them up, she looked at the digital clock on the cable TV box; it read 8:08 pm.

Five minutes later, the television program was interrupted by a news bulletin. A good looking male newscaster with a perpetually tanned face, blue eyes and hair that looked as stiff as a football helmet, announced in cool, sombre tones that the a deadly airplane crash had just occurred in Denver, Colorado. A United Airlines flight from Denver bound for Los Angeles had crashed after takeoff five minutes before, killing everyone aboard.

Leni watched in numbed silence at a newsclip of a passenger jet flashing down a snowy runway attempting to slip free of the earlth's gravity just before it burst into flames. Clara sat beside her as dumbstruck as she. She didn't need to hear the flight number to know that it was her parent's flight.

Tears flooded Clara's face. Her chest heaved mightily from the deep sobs that racked her own small body. She loved Leni and she loved Sarah and Thomas. She had taken care of their little girl since she was a baby and loved her like she was her own. She moved to comfort Leni now, but Leni was in shock, her body rigid, her arms straight down at her sides; she couldn't move a muscle. All Clara could do was wrap her bigger arms around the little girl and pull her close. She suspected that Leni had seen her parent's death as it occurred. She had believed for a long time that Leni had "Second Sight."

Tears ran down Leni's small face; they dripped on to her chest, but Leni didn't move or utter a sound for what seemed like an eternity. Clara lifted her to her lap, and Leni began to scream. She screamed until her throat was raw and swollen. She screamed until she was exhausted and could no longer utter a sound. Clara did not try to stop her; she held her for a longtime, then got up and called Leni's grandmother and her aunt.

After the funeral, Leni Hammond went to live with her grandmother, in Sea Isle a small island off the coast of Southern New Jersey. She was ten years old at the time. Although Leni loved her grandmother dearly and stayed with her every summer, it took a long time to adjust to the loss of her parents. It took a long time to get used to the loss of her friends and the only real life she had ever known, but Catriona was patient; she gave Leni all the love and time she needed to heal.

Sitting stiffly in her seat, Leni told herself that her fear was irrational. She had flown many times before with no incident. A rational person would have overcome her fear by now, but she hadn't. She felt like coward, and she hated that feeling. She fervently hoped no one else on the plane knew she was afraid; if they did, she would die from embarrassment.

She forced her hand away from the arms of the seat. With her right hand, she pushed the sleeve on her left arm up and began to rub the solid gold cuff that totally encircled her left forearm just a few of inches up from her thin wrist. A familiar warmth began to suffuse her body. Merely touching the cuff gave her a sense of security and serenity; it always had from the day she first put it on.

The cuff was about three inches wide, and it was heavy. It was beautifully engraved odd symbols both on the inside and outside. She was told the symbols were actually Celtic runes that formed a magic protection spell just for her. That made her feel good.

The gold cuff was Leni's favorite piece of jewelry, and it was the only piece of jewelry that she never took off, except to shower or bathe. She received it as a present from her grandfather, Danal, on her fifteenth birthday more than seven years ago. That was the first and only time she had ever met the mysterious man who was her grandfather.

When she was young, her mother had said that her own father was a soldier who died in the war before she and Aunt Diana were born. Leni pressed her mother for details, but Sarah Hammond claimed she knew nothing, except the little bit she learned from her mother. When Leni asked Gran about him, she always changed the subject; it was clear that did didn't want to talk about him, but Leni always saw a haunted look in her eyes. She also saw a look of longing.

All through her young life, Leni made up stories in her mind in which Danal was a handsome young man who swept her grandmother off of her feet, married her and then died a tragic hero in some far off foreign war. Leni always assumed Danal was an Irish immigrant like her grandmother.

Leni would never forget that strange day. She had just come home from school to find him in the kitchen with her grandmother. He was tall, with long, wavy, chocolate brown hair touched with honey gold. His incredible eyes were copper and glowed luminescently. He looked younger than her grandmother with his golden tanned skin and lean muscular physique. When she looked at him, the word "beautiful" popped into her mind. His voice was deep and musical with a strange lilt. He smiled at her and Leni felt warm; she knew implicity that this man loved her although he had never seen her before.

His clothing was strange. He was dressed in some sort of tunic encircled by a belt of gold. She could see a gold knife with an beautifully hilt etched with strange symbols stuck in an elaborate scabbord on his belt. Wide golden cuffs encircled both of his wrists; they were also engraved with the same odd symbols. They flashed in the light when he moved his hands.

He moved to kiss her on the cheek; his movements were liquid and graceful; he didn't move like other men. For a moment, his hair, skin and eyes glowed with a beautiful rainbow iridescence. The spot on her face where he kissed her burned hot, but it did not hurt; it felt good. For a long time, he stood looking deeply into her eyes as he smiled at her.

"I would know you anywhere. You are one of mine. I am your grandfather, Danal," he said; his smile widened, and he tenderly embraced her. She sensed a warm, electric aura surround them as he held her; she felt safe and secure. Instinctively, Leni knew he wasn't an ordinary man. She loved him immediately, unconditionally.

Nevertheless, it was more than weird to see her "dead" hero standing in front of her, embracing her grandmother the way a lover would. He looked so healthy and vital; he looked invincible. At first, she refused to believe he was actually her grandfather, but after a while she did. The look of pure love on both of their faces was more than enough to convince her.

When the truth finally sunk in, she became angry. She realized that her mother and grandmother, the two people she loved and trusted most in this world, had lied to her for years. For years after that, even though she forgave them, Leni still felt a sense of betrayal and loss since she never had been given the opportunity to get to know this beautiful man who was her grandfather. It was only during the last few months of her grandmother's life that she began to understand. It was only then that her grandmother would talk about the man she loved.

Danal pulled out another gold cuff from inside his robe and handed it to Leni. He told her that the cuff was magic, and made especially for her. He said it would protect her as long as she wore it, although he didn't say what it would protect her from. Her grandmother nodded in agreement. Leni didn't believe in magic, but for some strange reason, she believed every word her grandfather said that day; she trusted him implicitly. She wore the cuff everyday since then, taking it off only to shower at night; she often didn't take it off even then.

As the plane flew through through the night skies, Leni pushed her reclining seat fully back, shut off the light over her head and finally fell into an exhausted sleep. She began to dream.

In her dream, she was laying in a large bed, pressed between silk sheets at the broad naked chest of her lover. The sheets were damp from their lovemaking. The salty tang of sex and the smell of spice perfumed the air. Her lover had collapsed against her with his head buried in her neck. His large body was heavy, and it weighed on her; it was a weight she welcomed

Both of their bodies were slick with sweat and still quivering and weak from their exertions and the force of their joint release. His orgasm filled and suffused her inner core with a liquid heat. They were one.

"Ah, Leni, I love you so much," a deep voice, gravelly with emotion and exertion rasped against the tender flesh of her throat; she could feel the heat of his breath whisper against her skin. The sound of his voice and the words he spoke thrilled her, as much as the physical sensations she felt moments before. But those words, as beautiful as they were, also gave her great pain.

She loved him more than life itself, and had told him so many times, but this was the first time he said the same. She knew it was true, but it did not matter; he would soon leave her forever. Where he was going, she could not follow. Even if she could, she had no place there. He would go to another place and another time. He would go to another woman. A woman he loved more than he loved her. That knowledge was killing her. Even though he lay there in her arms, she felt so alone. She felt empty and bereft.

The dream sequence kept repeating over and over. Starting and ending in the exactly the same place. She could feel the heat of his body and hear the words he spoke. She could feel his hands as they held and caressed her. She could hear the sound sound of his voice; the tone and timbre setting her on fire as it coursed up her spine.

She could never see her lover's face, no matter how hard she tried. Each time the dream was the same, but each time, the sense of loss was more profound. Each time the pain in her heart deeper and stronger.

Leni tossed and turned for several hours; finally she began to awake. As she slowly moved from a deep dream state to semi-consciousness. She felt an awareness of pressure on her legs and felt a large, warm hand touching her left arm, pulling at her.

She knew it shouldn't be, but her whole body was hot, it pulsed with a strange electricity from that touch. She wanted that touch, she needed it so badly. For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming, but this was no dream, but she knew one doesn't actually feel sensation in a dream..

Leni tried to opened her eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. She sensed, rather than saw, a big body hulking over her. She began to scream.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ryodan had been intently studying the small blonde before and after the plane lifted off the tarmac. Unwanted lust throbbed in his groin causing him serious discomfort as the bulge in his pants strained against the heavy material of his denim jeans. His erection grew even bigger when he saw her wiggle her butt to get comfortable in the leather seat.

He kept shifting in the seat to ease himself, but it was no use. Both Lor and Angus watched him curiously with smirks on their faces. He glared at them; his dark eyes dared them to say anything out loud. They both held their counsel.

A strong magnetic attraction to the pretty blonde thrummed steadily in his mind, growing stronger as each minute passed. A powerful need to touch her anywhere on her body was building, making him even more uncomfortable. He somehow sensed that merely touching her would release the strain he felt. He resisted the urge to lean over and touch her right arm as his fingers flexed involuntarily. He wished nothing more than to be in a room alone with the girl to explore these feelings.

Ryodan was a a loss. Although the blonde was certainly pretty, she was a far cry from type of woman that usually attracted him. He liked tall, beautiful, preferably dark haired, carefully coiffed woman. He liked woman who oozed sophistication and worldliness. His women always looked like fashion plates dressed in expensive designer clothing, without a hair out of place.

When they spoke, their voices intoned in serene, cultured accents. They could discuss the latest in art, music, politics and fashion. They were educated and extremely intelligent even if they didn't work for a living. Most importantly, they were sexually uninhibited; they knew exactly what to do to satisfy his animal passions and strong lusts, just as he satisfied theirs.

They did anything and everything he asked them to do. Although he paid well for their services by showering them with expensive gifts and money, they were the kind of women to whom he could never form a deep attachment. They were the kind of women he could leave behind without a second thought when he tired of them. Once he was done with them, he never missed them or thought much about them again.

This girl was the antithesis of sophisticated and worldly. She was short with a small frame; still she was blessed with soft, full breasts and lush round hips. Her fair complexion was radiant; it seemed to glow with an inner light. He guessed that was just her youth. She radiated small town charm and had a rather disgusting look of wholesomeness about her. Ryodan didn't like wholesome.

Her voice, when he heard it, was a warm, rich alto. He sensed she liked to laugh a lot and would have bet she was prone to make jokes and laugh at inappropriate times. Her hair lacked any real style; it was cut at the ends, but it tumbled down her back in a riot of golden curls; it was shiny and looked so soft, it seemed vibrant and alive. Her face was almost totally devoid of make up, except for a little eyeshadow, and some lipstick, Her dark brown eye lashes needed no mascara to highlight them. Her eyes fascinated him, they were a peculiar violet color and they flashed when she was excited or angry.

Her clothes were hardly haute couture; it was unlikely she ever owned a designer dress in her life. The sweater, jeans and loafers she wore fit her well, and they were not cheap, but they were the type clothing that one could buy at any major department store in the United States. In truth, she was a nobody; a woman he would normally never look at twice. Still, he was unaccountably drawn to her, and he was determined to find out why.

Ryodan had no use for cowards, and he had a particular disgust for anyone who openly showed fear. He was surprised and faintly disappointed to discover that that the little blonde evidently had a great fear of flying. He had know many people who had the same problem, but her fear seemed deeper than most. She was trying bravely not to show it, but she was afraid nonetheless. He could hear her heart beating faster; he could see the pulse in her neck throb wildly. He could literally smell it on her. Fear gave off an acrid, distasteful scent.

As the plane lifted off the tarmac, he watched in fascination as her small, pretty face went white, and her hands gripped the arms of her seat so tightly, her knuckles went white. He could feel her impulse to scream and wondered if she would give in to it. She didn't; she swallowed hard, instead. He admired that.

He saw her push her sleeve up on her left arm and began to rub the gold bracelet that encircled her forearm As her small fingertips traced the runes etched into the gold band, she began to slowly relax. He could hear her heartbeat slowing; her pulse throbbed slower too. She took several deep breaths, and kept on fingering and rubbing the cuff, relaxing even more as she did.

He laughed softly to himself; she reminded him so much of a small child hugging a security blanket, and in a way, it was very endearing. It made him feel good to see how hard she fought to control her fear without making a scene. He instinctively understood that she was embarrassed about her fear.

The girl stopped rubbing the bracelet and moved her right hand to her side. Her left forearm lay across her lap in plain view. Ryodan got a good look at the strange looking band and sucked in a surprised breath. He immediately recognized the gold cuff for what it was. He jabbed Lor hard in the side to get his attention and pointed.

Lor recognized it too; he alerted Angus who craned his eyes to see the girl's arm. Angus nodded. They all knew that the gold bracelet was actually a Fae cuff cast to ward off evil. The gold in the cuff was not from this planet. It was Fae gold from Faery. They were certain that the gold cuff had been made by a member of the Fae race to protect the wearer from harm. The runes on the cuff more than likely contained the words to a Fae magic spell. Fae magic was almost as powerful as Draghar magic.

Ryodan leaned his body toward the blonde as far as it would go. Her cuff seemed to sense other magic around it and began to resonate silently; he was doubtful that she was even aware of it. His Draghar eyes and ears picked up the sight and sound of the cuff immediately as it vibrated in a frequency much higher than human eyes or ears could see or hear. He felt his own silver cuff began to quiver just as silently in response, as did the cuffs worn by Lor and Angus. He kept staring at her and the cuff wondering what she was doing with it.

The blonde looked up and caught Ryodan staring at her. He didn't want her to suspect his interest in the cuff, so he made a pass at her. He wanted to divert her attention, but he never expected the intense reaction he got. The blonde got angry and responded sarcastically to him. She rejected him in no uncertain terms. He wasn't used to that, and it made him angry. It made him even angrier when she dismissed him so casually by turning her back on him and falling asleep facing the window.

As the blonde slept, the three Draghar men looked at each other in astonishment. There was no doubt in their minds that the golden cuff worn by the young blonde contained a very powerful Fae magic spell. That more than drew their attention. Anything Fae always drew the attention of Draghar; they had been enemies for millennia. The fact that three Draghar warriors were on the same plane with a human who wore a Fae protection cuff could not be dismissed as mere coincidence, even a human as young and small as the little blonde. Both the girl and the cuff bore further examination.

They began to talk softly in their own ancient language so there would be no chance that anyone in first class would understand them. They kept their voices low and controlled, but excitement gripped all three of them. Most humans could not handle any true Fae object without incurring serious harm, but the girl casually touched the gold cuff as if she was used to it. It had been centuries since the three Draghar males had seen a human casually handle a Fae object like that, and they were intrigued.

Lor who was sitting next to Ryodan said he thought he had seen the name "Danal" on the cuff. It sounded like the name of a Fae male, but none of them were familiar with it. Lor suggested they ask Barrons if he recognized the name. Jericho Barrons was the name currently used by their leader Zigor. He knew many more fae than the others did..

Even though they thought it was unlikely, the three understood implicitly that they needed to to determine if the blonde posed a danger to them. Even if she was harmless, they needed to determine exactly how this young American female got her hands on such a valuable Fae object. The Fae cuff was priceless and valuable beyond measure. The Draghar collected any fae objects they could get their hands on, even those that were not Seelie or Unseelie hallows.

All Fae objects contained magic. Because of their hatred for the Fae, the Draghar considered it their right to keep these objects out of the hands of those who would use them against them. Just as they searched for both dark and light hallows to help them find the lost Sinsar Dubh, the most powerful book of magic that ever existed, they bought and/or stole many other regular fae objects. They needed the Sinsar Dubh to help them turn back time and bring back their loved ones. They collected other non-vital Fae objects to keep them out of the wrong hands. If they determined it was necessary to steal the cuff off the girl's arm, they would do so ruthlessly and without remorse.

All three knew that the runes on the cuff would spell out the exact words of the magic protection spell contained by the cuff. By reading the words, they would know who cast the spell, and they would understand exactly who and what they were dealing with. Ryodan decided he would slip the cuff off her arm while she slept. They would read the runes and decide whether or not to give it back to her, but before they did that, they wanted to discover as much about her as they could.

As the other passengers slept in the darkened first class cabin, Ryodan made his move. He stood up and unobtrusively pulled the girl's handbag out of the storage bin above her seat. Sitting back down, he rifled through her purse. Her wallet held both a amount American dollars and about three hundred British pounds, a driver's license with her picture on it, a credit card, a bank ATM card and a library card, all of which identified her as Eleanora Hammond, 8617 Smith Lane, Old Bridge, New Jersey 08857.

_Ailiniora, "Shining Light", such a fitting name._ Ryodan thought as he looked at the blonde's glowing face in the semi-darkness.

He found an employee identification card with her photograph on it from Raritan Bay Hospital. The ID card was attached to a metal chain and identified her as a registered nurse. In a small zippered compartment, the purse contained a envelope of about fifty photographs that were still sealed; she apparently had just picked them up before getting on her flight.

A second compartment held a lipstick, a small hair brush, a key ring with both car and house keys, a pen, a small digital camera, a cellphone; a small weekly planner, some gum, a package of tissues, and a plastic case for carrying tampons. A third compartment was where she held her wallet, and a case for sunglasses. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the handbag.

Stuffing all the items except the folder of photographs back into the bag, Ryodan gave the bag to Lor and Angus to search again. He sat back and began to scan the photographs to see if there was any sort of evidence in them. The first forty pictures showed rdinary candid snapshots of the girl and her friends going about their daily lives. The blonde was pictured with many other people, including an old woman with the same color violet eyes. Ryodan guessed they were relatives.

There were shots of her at work with co-workers, in a bar with friends, at a wedding catching a bridal bouquet and dressed up for a costume party making faces at some kids. She seemed to have a devilish sense of humor as there were a quite few photos of her making weird faces or sticking out her tongue at someone. She really seemed unconscious of the way she looked and didn't seem to care whether or not the camera caught her in a careful pose or making a silly clown face. She looked so ridiculous in some of the pictures, Ryodan laughed out loud as he showed the silly pictures to the others.

There were a number of shots of her kissing, hugging and mugging with a tall, lean, male with dark brown hair and amber eyes. The guy was smiling, but he didn't seem happy. He sure wasn't having as good a time as the little blonde. He seemed to be merely tolerating her little jokes. Ryodan knew instantly that the man was the sort of human male that many women would think quite handsome, but to Ryodan, he looked conceited; and egotistical.

In one of the photographs, the two were embracing while the little blonde held out her hand, showing off an engagement ring to another woman. An unreasonable stab of jealousy at the sight of the engagement ring caused him to look over at the girl; she was still sleeping with her back to him.

_You're a fool it you marry that jerk, little girl_, he thought

As if mentally called by him, Leni turned over on the seat and faced him. She was still sleeping soundly. Her small left hand lay atop the blanket in plain sight. Ryodan hadn't noticed an engagement ring on her hand before, so he looked for one now. There was no ring. He almost smiled in relief, but again he wondered where that feeling came from.

It was the last ten pictures in the folder that made Ryodan sit up and take notice. They were pictures of the little blonde and a much taller, absolutely beautiful blonde with lighter hair and violet eyes. The eyes were same shade as the little blonde; again he wondered if they were related. The two girls were on a beach wearing bikinis. One tall, one short, but both perfectly proportioned; they both made his mouth water.

Both girls looked so stunning in the tiny scraps of cloth that covered their breasts and private parts, that It was hard for him to determine which girl was more attractive. That was not what attracted his attention though: Ryodan knew the taller blonde girl. She was Bridget McDonald and had just become engaged to one of the Draghar; she was Tegan's new girlfriend. Tegan swore to them that Bridget was the reincarnation of his dead wife, Briana, who had died along with Zayida and the other Draghar wives and families so long ago.

"Well, well. Isn't this interesting. That's Bridget McDonald, Tegan's woman. I wonder how this girl knows Bridget?" Ryodan asked as he showed the pictures to his two colleagues. Ryodan kept a couple of solo shots of Leni and put the other pictures back in the envelope and put them in her purse. He placed her purse back in the storage bin.

The three of them waited quietly for Ryodan to get a chance to get at the fae cuff. When two passengers awoke and started to talk, Lor performed a ritual incantation to cause both passengers to fall back asleep. The same incantation kept the flight attendants from looking their way.

Ryodan knelt down in the aisle beside the little blonde seat. With one hand, he tried to pull the girl's left arm toward him. He rested his other hand lightly on her upper thighs; he just couldn't resist the temptation; he rubbed her lega lightly back and forth a couple of times. He felt a deep sense of pleasure and a feeling of calmness as he touched the girl; his tense body began to relax. He would have continued to rub her leg, but he made himself concentrate on getting the cuff off her arm.

SMACK! "Get your hands off of me, you freakin' pervert!" a sleepy voice yelled.

The slap and Leni's loud scream reverberated through the first class cabin. Several sleeping passengers were woken out of a deep slumber by both sounds. The passengers and the two flight attendants up in front near the galley looked back to see what was causing the commotion. Ryodan found himself the center of unwanted attention.

Quicker than he though possible, the blonde moved her seat back to a sitting position, jumped up, stamped down hard on his foot and pushed at him. He lost his balance and almost fell over. She glared down at him; her beautiful violet eyes narrowed as they flashed with outrage and anger.

Ryodan stood up rubbed his face and stared back; he growled at her low in his throat. Thinking to intimidate her, he pulled himself up to his full height. He towered over Leni by almost eighteen inches, and he was more than twice her size in weight, but she wasn't having any of it. The tiny termagant stood toe to toe with him and glared up at him, looking for all the world as if she were going to start breathing fire. For a minute, the sight of her made Ryodan want to laugh out loud.

Lor and Angus moved behind Ryodan looking like two black thunder clouds. It was clear to Leni that the three men were together in this. "If you think you can intimidate me, you big bullies, you got another think coming," she spat at them.

Ryodan lowered his head toward her. "Is that so, Eleanora Hammond?" he drawled insolently and ran his finger along her jaw. The fact that he knew her name sent an unwelcome chill up her back, but the fact that he tried to intimidate her even further by touching her, made Leni's anger burn hot like the sun. She wanted to explode. She swatted his hand away, and moved backwards. That was a mistake as she almost ended up falling over her seat.

Leni managed to keep her balance and didn't give another inch. She looked looked up at the storage bin and then back at him. The storage bin door was slightly open. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he had rifled through her things. For a few seconds, she didn't know what made her angrier: the fact that he touched her, the fact that he tried to tried to get the gold cuff off her arm, or the fact that he had been in her purse.

"My, what a busy little beaver you've been." she sarcastically ground out. "Too bad you wasted your time. I don't have anything worth stealing." Leni was consumed with rage at this behavior, and the behavior of the two men standing behind him.

"What's going on here?" two voices demanded. The two flight attendants, one male and one female, who serviced the first class section, came running up the aisle.

"This asshole just tried to molest me. I think think he was trying to steal my bracelet too." Leni said loudly.

"It's just a misunderstanding. I dropped my car keys on her seat as I walked back from the loo. I was just trying to get them back. I didn't mean to wake her, but I did. See." The man held up a set of keys for everyone to see.

"You had your hands on me, you pervert. You were rubbing my leg all over and pulling on my arm, so what the hell what the hell were you doing?"

"You must have been dreaming, Miss. I wasn't trying to steal anything, and I certainly wasn't trying to molest you. You were both awake. Did either of you see me trying to molest her or try to steal her bracelet?" He turned and asked the two other huge, dark men. They both shook their heads.

Leni knew what she what she knew; and she remembered the man's response just a minute ago. She started to insist, but the female flight attendant cut her off. The name tag on her uniform read "Kay."

"Well, it looks like it was all a big mistake. Everything is all right, You can all go back to sleep now.," Kay said. She looked at Leni and gave a disgusted look.

"I apologize Mr. Ryodan. It's clear the girl was just dreaming. Please don't let her ruin your flight." she said in a cultured British voice. "Americans. They are all crazy, aren't they?" she leaned into Ryodan and whispered softly sharing a laugh at Leni's expense with him. She didn't know if Leni could hear, but she really didn't care if she did.

Leni grabbed her purse, laptop and parka out of the storage bin. She sat back down in her seat and checked her purse and wallet to see if everything was missing. Everything seemed to be in place.

Ryodan and the other two men sat down as well. Kay hung around for a few more minutes talking to Ryodan. Leni could see the pretty redhead had a case of major hots for the big man. After practically sitting in his lap, Kay got the picture and left.

Leni turned to Ryodan and said. "Nice try, asshole. They may believe you, but you don't have me fooled for a minute. I know you tried to steal my bracelet. If you wanted to see it, why didn't you just ask, like a normal person." she added spitefully.

"Can you prove I tried to steal it? By the way, may I please see your bracelet, Miss Hammond?" Ryodan asked in a mocking tone.

Leni pulled her sleeve back down. "Hell no. If I could prove it, your ass would be sitting in jail the moment we landed. As for seeing my bracelet, I wouldn't show anything to a pervert like you. Especially one who feels free to paw me and rifle through my things." If looks could kill, Leni would have killed Ryodan by now. That amused the big man to no end.

Ryodan gave a sarcastic snort, "You think a lot of yourself, little girl You don't have _anything_ that would interest me." The emphasis on the word "anything" was intended to leave no doubt that she wasn't up to his standards.

"Glad to hear that, pervert, cause you're so not my type, either."

"And just what type am I, little girl?"

"An arrogant, conceited thief who thinks he's God's gift to women. A real creep who thinks it's okay to molest strange women when he thinks they are asleep. What's the matter, big boy? Can't you get a date the normal way by asking a woman when she's awake? It's no wonder you have problems. By the way, you really should lose the gross pick up lines; they're a real turn off!"

With that, Leni got up, picked up her things and stalked down the aisle to an empty seat near the galley where she spent the rest of the flight to London. As she walked away, the three Draghar men looked at each other and howled with laughter. Before she sat down in her new seat, Leni turned around and gave them all the finger.

"Go fuck yourselves, you creeps. When you're done, do it again, sideways," she yelled at them. That made them laugh even harder.

On the flight from London to Dublin, she avoided the three big men by sitting as far away from them as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Three am, Dublin time, Thursday morning,

Ryodan quietly left his large bed. He did not want to wake Moira, the beautiful red head who lay sleeping beside him. He had called her almost as soon as he walked through his door, and she had been more than eager to come. It had been weeks since they were together like this. It had taken her less than thirty minutes to drive to his mansion on a hill outside the city limits. She was barely through the door when he picked her up and carried her down two flights of stairs to his subteranean bedchamber; she undressed and dropped articles of clothing along the way. His bedroom was handsomely decorated as was his whole house above ground, but it was below ground that Ryodan knew he was safe. If his lovers thought that sleeping in a bedroom underground was odd; they kept that opinion to themselves.

Moira snored softly. She was thoroughly exhausted from the prodigious round of sex they had participated in earlier. Their copulation was wild and rough; for more than four hours he had pounded himself fiercely into her body. It should have left him sated and relaxed, but it didn't. He was as hard and tense now as he was when he began. Their sex had not eased the deep feelings of lust and some other undefinable, more primitive desire he felt for the little blonde he had met earlier. No, the sex had not helped matters at all, not even a little. If anything, he wanted Leni Hammond even more than before.

Moira had moaned and cried out in her ecstasy many times as he grunted and groaned over her. He had felt the strength of her multiple orgasms as she came over and over again. He enjoyed pleasuring human women almost as much as he enjoyed being pleasured himself. He had pushed Moira and himself beyond what they both thought possible. Their sex had been raw, intense and almost violent at times; it was the best sex they had in years. It was good, but Ryodan knew that it was not good enough. As good as Moira was in bed, for some strange reason, he wanted something more.

Moira had gloried in the startling renewed strength of Ryodan's ardor and lust for her this morning. She thought it was because because they hadn't been together like this in almost three weeks. She knew for certain that her lover had bedded several other women during that time. Ryodan always had many women while she was expected to keep herself only for him. It was unfair, she knew, but she loved him, so she accepted his demands.

Moira was jealous of the other women he spent time with; so much so she fantasized about killing any woman who touched him. She had been with Ryodan almost five years now and considered him her property; the other women knew that, but they didn't care, so she did something about it. During the last five years, she had gotten many of Ryodan's other women fired from their jobs and caused all sorts of trouble for them. If Ryodan knew or cared, he never showed it. She knew that he preferred her above all the others. She had been with him the longest, and he always came back to her.

This morning she had presumed that he missed her and her unique lovemaking skills during the past three weeks. That was the longest time, they had been apart in the years that she knew him. At first, she was afraid that Ryodan was getting tired of her, but this morning, his lovemaking calmed her fears. This morning, she presumed that he loved her, at least a little bit. She teased him about it and told him so.

Ryodan was irritated by her presumption, but he told her gently, "You know I care about you more than any other woman I know, Moira, but I don't love you. I always told you not to expect that from me; I am not capable of that kind of love."

Moira turned her back to him. He could hear her crying softly until she fell asleep. Ryodan knew he had been unneedlessly cruel by giving her hope for something more this morning. It was time to end it with Moira, permanently.

Ryodan did not love Moira, nor had he truly missed her; he had not thought much about her at all during the last few weeks. He had been busy with the nightclub and the task that their leader, Zigor, had sent him and the others to do, and he wasn't looking forward to detailing their recent failure to Jericho Barrons. He also used other available women when he needed to satisfy his lust, just as he always did. He called Moira this morning only because she was convenient.

He fully understood his strong need to couple with a woman this morning was simply an attempt to relieve the unusually strong sexual frustration that built up all during his flight home. To be honest with himself, he knew it was to forget the face of Leni Hammond, the small pretty blonde who had rejected him so thoroughly yesterday on that flight.

She had angered him, but she had also stirred someting so deep within him, he did not understand what it was, or why. It was like he was on fire, and he could not put the flames out. It was a strange sensation. It burned him from within so strongly that he felt like he was being consumed in a soul searing conflagration. He had not wanted a woman that much since Zayida; he felt out of control.

When the flight from London to Dublin landed, she was ahead of him and his companions as she collected her luggage and headed through customs. He listened as she laughed lightly and chatted comfortably with other passengers. She sounded tired, but happy and irrepressible. He was strangely jealous of the people she talked to so easily. Afterward as they headed down the long terminal to the passenger pick up area and a waiting limo, the little blonde was about twenty feet ahead of him still.

"Munchins!" a young male voice yelled.

Ryodan watched in amazement as Leni gave a happy shriek, dropped her luggage, her computer and her handbag in the middle of the floor and ran toward a dark haired youth of about nineteen or twenty. The boy was wearing jeans, a Trinity College sweatshirt and a leather jacket. He was at least 6'2" broad shouldered, about 175 pounds and exceptionally handsome. Ryodan knew the boy would be as big as a Zaghar warrior once he matured.

His wavy, chocolate brown hair with honey gold streaks fell to the nape of his neck and was pushed carelessly back over his well shaped ears. Even Ryodan recognized the boy had beautiful eyes, that were an unusual color of copper, surrounded with long, dark lashes. His eyes were lit with happiness as he watched the small blonde hurtling toward him.

He opened his arms and she jumped. He caught her with one arm below her bottom and one arm around her back as she wound her small legs around his waist. Instinctively, Sean spun her her around laughing as he did so; Leni covered his faces with a big wet kiss.

Ryodan saw the look of pure happiness on her face and something inside of him snapped; he was angry and even more jealous than before. His eyes saw red. His mind reverted to a more primitive animal state. He could not reason; he only knew that another male was touching his female, and she accepted it. Deep in his animal mind, he asked,

_Does she seek to mate with this male she touches?_ She cannot, she is mine!

He could not, would not, allow that. A low menacing snarl issued from Ryodan's throat. _Mine!_ the snarl warned again. The beast in him started to move toward the young human male.

It was Lor who sensed the transformation first. Electricity poured off Ryodan. His muscles tensed. The air rippled around him. Heat radiated like a blow torch from his big body.

Shocked beyond words at the unexpected, but familiar, change coming over his friend, Lor issued a low guttural warning to Angus. Both large men moved in a whirl of motion too fast for the human eye to see. With a wave of his hands and a few words uttered low in his throat, Lor cast a Draghar cloaking spell around Ryodan and Angus. The cloaking spell made the two Draghar males inside invisible to the parade of human travelers who moved around them like water flowing around a sandbar in the middle of a river.

Inside the cloak, Angus cast his own magic, a spell that held Ryodan firmly rooted to the floor of the airport terminal; he could not move. The air around Ryodan shimmered and for a moment, he transformed into his natural beast form and bellowed a mighty roar. Lor and Angus knew that sound; both of them knew not to touch Ryodan or say anything to him at this time, or the big, powerful Zaghar male would instinctively interpret that as a challenge. The results would be a bloody mess; someone would get hurt. The powerful Draghar male had just issued a belligerent warning to another male. "Get away from my female, or die!"

Without the cloaking spell, to the human eye, Ryodan would have looked like a huge, massively muscled beast with smooth gray skin. The beast was vaguely humanoid in form, with a large prehistoric face, a prominent bony crest on its forehead and two bony ridges that ran down the sides of its head. The beast had wild, feral yellow eyes and long, deadly looking fangs. Those fangs were gnashing in fury now.

Hanks of long, dank, black hair surrounded its face. Both hands and feet were webbed with long, sharp talons. Although usually on all fours, when it stood stood on its hind legs, the beast stood well over nine feet tall and weigh several tons. It was massive and powerful. Three sets of horns curved backwards starting at the ears and down a thick muscled neck. To anyone who could have seen the beast, they would have known instantly that it was not of this earth. It was in this form that all Zaghar spent a small part of their time each month to rejuvenate and feed.

Ryodan roared again and tried to charge Sean, but Angus' spell continued to hold him fast. The cloaking spell disbursed the sound of his bellowing. The travelers in the terminal, including Leni and Sean, started fearfully when they heard what sounded like a large animal roaring nearby. A few people started to scream.

After a few seconds, Ryodan shimmered again and transformed back to his human form. Lor and Angus instantly released their spells. Now, they seemed just like three more startled humans trying to determine where the animal roars came from. None of them looked more startled than Ryodan, though. The primal urge that came over him was the first time he had ever experienced it on this planet. Although common on Draghar, their home planet, they only knew of one of their kind who had ever experienced it on Earth. Tegan had once transformed to protect his human mate, Rhianna, and that was over three thousand years ago.

The crowd started to mill around, and a few minutes later an announcement came over the sound system. "Everything is fine, folks. Just a few anxious animals from Cirque de Soleil."

One of the passengers pointed out the terminal window to a large transporet plane that was unloading circus animals from its hold just a few hundred yards away. Many people rushed over to the window to ooh and aah as the animals came off the plane.

While everyone's attention was turned to the animals outside, a ginger haired, small, wiry male walked over to Leni's luggage and handbag to take advantage of the distraction. He crouched down and started to pick up the handbag. In a swift move, Ryodan shoved the man away. "Move," he growled. The would be petty crook looked up at the tall, dark man, blinked a couple of times and walked away.

Lor and Angus walked over to Ryodan as he stood sentry over Leni's stuff. "Are you crazy? What was that? Do you want to expose us all?" both men furiously questioned Ryodan in their own language. They both knew what had happened; they just couldn't believe it. They kept looking back and forth between Ryodan and the blonde, Leni Hammond for an explanation. Neither Draghar warrior could see the attraction that Ryodan so clearly felt for the small woman. Leni Hammond was quite an ordinary human to both of them.

Ryodan was shaken, he did not understand what had happened either. He stood silently; he could not answer his friends. He could not give word to the thoughts that roiled in his brain. His reaction had been primitive, instinctive from somewhere deep in his limpic brain. For the first time since he had been on this planet, he could not control his transformation, and that scared him beyond measure.

He was ready to rip young Sean McDonald to pieces just for touching Leni, but Leni was not his mate; no human woman, except for Zayida, warranted that kind of response. Ryodan had never transformed to protect Zayida. He had fought for her in his human form several times. He had even stopped her from being raped by three invading warriors once; he killed all three of them easily with his sword, but he had never transformed. He wondered what that meant.

Up ahead of them, Sean had put Leni down. She was staring up at her young male cousin. "Look at you, Beanpole," she cried as she laughed up at him. "You've grown so tall since I saw you at Gran's funeral. You're so handsome, too. Why Sean McDonald, I bet you have to beat the girls off with a stick!"

For the first time, Leni realized how much Sean looked like their grandfather, Danal. _He is going to be a very beautiful man too; he will be quite breathtaking.I hope it doesn't go to his head_, she thought.

Sean blushed and grinned. He had been an awkward gangly teenager, and at nineteen he was still rather shy with girls. His growth spurt had come in the last four months as he added more than five inches and fifty pounds to his lean frame. His body was athletic and muscular; the girls liked to touch his muscles. His face had gone from that of a boy to that of a man. Girls din't pay much attention to him before, but they sure blushed prettily when he looked at them now.

In high school, he rarely dated; as a college freshman, the girls wouldn't leave him alone. That was okay with him, though. He was gaining more confidence everyday, and he loved the attention. At the beginning, he thought it was a problem, but it was one he was learning to live with now.

"Where is Bridget; I expected her to be here?" Leni asked.

"She's on a modeling job right now, but she'll be at the house after eight. She wants you to meet Tegan, her boyfriend, tonight," Sean said as he grabbed Leni's luggage and headed out the automatic door to the the limo waiting outside.

"Not tonight, I hope. I am so tired and jet lagged, I just might sleep for a week." Leni yaned as she followed him. Ryodan, Lor and Angus stepped out behind her waiting for their own limo. Sean grabbed Leni's suitcase and laptop and tossed them into the trunk.

"Ahem," a familiar voice said. Leni whirled around. That disgusting creep, Mr. Ryodan, from the plane was standing behind her.

"Munchins?" he said in a mocking voice. Leni almost growled at him. "Don't call me that!" Ryodan laughed.

"Whose the guy?" Sean innocently said as he came up beside her.

"This man?" she asked, nodding to Ryodan.

"Yeah! Is he bothering you, cousin" Sean said in his best protective voice. Ryodan snorted quietly.

"Why don't you know that this is Mr. God's Gift to Women, Sean? The answer is no, he's not bothering me."

"What?" Sean was puzzled. He had no clue what Leni was saying.

"You know. This is Mr. Look at me; I'm here, fantastic creature that I am. Fall on your knees, you mere human woman and adore me. I just might deign to brighten your dull existence with my gracious smile." Leni looked at Ryodan and lsmirked at him.

Ryodan just stared at her, "You know, I think you are crazy, little girl. What in the hell is wrong with you?" he said. She just laughed at him and got into the limo.

Sean's eyes widened; he looked suspiciously at Ryodan for a minute and then shrugged. He didn't know what Leni was talking about, but he knew she had a temper and could come up with the weirdest things. He loved Leni, but his cousin was definitely a little strange sometimes.

Ryodan stood with a haughty, slightly offended look on his rugged, handsome face and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "What was that all about?". To Sean, he looked the picture of a wealthy, cultured man of the world who had absolutely no idea Leni was talking about, either.

"My cousin, Leni, she can be a little crazy sometimes but she's not usually this bad. I must apologize for her." the young man said, doing his manly duty. He walked around to the other side of the limo and got in; the limo pulled away.

"She sure has your number, Ry. Either that, or you sure pissed her off," Angus said as he and Lor stifled a laugh.

Ryodan paid no mind to his friends teasing remarks. He felt a strong thrill of excitement in his groin: Leni Hammond, was Bridget McDonald's cousin. He would see the little bitch again, and soon. He would make her want him, and then they would see just who had the last laugh. He couldn't wait.

That was yesterday, This morning, Ryodan sat staring into the fireplace. His mind drifted to Zayida, Leni, Tegan and Bridget. He began to think of the words to the ancient Druid binding vow. When exchanged by lovers, this marriage vow bound their souls together for eternity.

"_If aught must be lost, 'till be my honor for yours,_

_If one must be forsaken, 'till be my soul for yours._

_Should death come anon, 'twill be my life for yours._

_I am Given." _

Ryodan knew that Tegan had exchanged this vow with his dead wife, Rhianna, at their marriage ceremony long ago. Tegan would exchange the vow again with Bridget McDonald at their marriage ceremony in two beautiful words of the Druid binding vow haunted Ryodan now as it had each time he saw Tegan and Bridget together.

Long ago, Tegan and Rhianna had both claimed that they were lifemates; they were soulmates whose very soul was one half of the other. According to Tegan, Bridget was the latest reincarnation of Rhianna, and it was those words that brought them together again and again.

As part of her Druid religion, Rhianna believed that the soul was reincarnated many times. Ryodan and the other Draghar did not believe in reincarnation; they were immortal after all, and had no need to reincarnate. They did not believe in soulmates; in fact, they did not believe in the soul.

Tegan believed, and he knew Rhianna was mortal. He wanted to be with her always, so he exchanged the vows with her. Because of the vow, he believed that Rhianna had reincarnated twice before in the form of two other women. He met and married her again both times; both times she died in childbirth.

He told Ryodan and the other Zaghar that he knew the very moment that Rhianna was reborn; he felt the very moment, she drew her first breath again as a newborn baby. He claimed the air was clearer; the sky was bluer and the grass was greener. He claimed he felt an energy rise from the very earth and fill he had to do is wait; wait and find her. When he found her, for a moment, time stood still and only they existed. Their souls instinctively reached out for each other. They recognized each other immediately.

Tegan said that is exactly what happened the night he first saw Bridget McDonald entering Chester's with Jerry O'Connell. O'Connell, a big, wiry, auburn haired Irish male of twenty five and had been Bridget's boyfriend for three years. He as also one of Rocky O'Bannion's boys. O'Bannion was a well known mobster of considerable ill repute in Dublin. Bridget and Jerry had been fighting as they walked into Chester's with Tegan right behind them.

Bridget's parents tried to stop her from seeing O'Connell, but for the first time in her life, Bridget disregarded her parent's wishes. Jerry O'Connell was the most exciting man she ever met, she told Leni one summer when she visited Gran in New Jersey. Things went well until Bridget started modeling and began to make much more money than Jerry who worked as a bouncer in one of O'Bannion's bars.

During the last few months, he started hitting her. He always managed to hit her where it wouldn't show and threatened if she went to the Garda, the local police, he would hurt her family. Bridget had heard about Chester's; she heard the place had a bad reputation and didn't want to go there. Just before they walked through the double doors into the nightclub, Bridget tried to yank her arm away from Jerry and leave. He cursed and slapped her hard in the face with an open fist. Bridget stumbled backward into Tegan.

The moment their bodies touched; electricity sparked through both of their bodies and arced in a blaze of blue lightening from her hand to his. Their eyes met, and they both forgot about Jerry O'Connell for long moments as they stared at each other. Tegan said it was as if they knew each other; had always known each other. From someplace deep from within, Tegan growled out the word, "Mine," and reached for her. Without thinking, Bridget stepped into his arms.

O'Connell didn't forget. Angered by what was going on between his girlfriend and the huge, dark stranger, he raised a fist to hit Bridget again. The blow never connected; O'Connell's large fist was crushed in Tegan's larger one. The ancient Draghar slammed the young Irishman to the floor with one tremendous punch and stood over him daring him to rise. Jerry left, without even entering Chester's, with a broken arm, a bloody nose and a crushed hand. As he walked out the door, he turned and spat out a vow to kill Bridget. Two days later, Jerry O'Connell just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Bridget told Tegan later that night as they made love for the first time that she knew from the moment she saw him that he was "hers." She felt a strange and deep connection to him. Tegan explained to her that they were soulmates who had met once again. He told her of Rhianna and of the other times that they had been together. He explained the meaning of the binding vow they had exchanged so long ago.

When Bridget was young, her grandmother had often told her, and her cousin Leni, tales of fairies, leprechauns, mermaids and all sort of magic and magical folk. Catriona O"Gallagher was baptized Catholic, but she believed in the old Celtic legends. She told them, that like their mothers, they were both fairy princesses who would one day meet their lifemates. She promised each of them that they would find their true soulmate, special men who would love them forever, men they could not live without.

Being a modern young girl raised by wealthy and sophisticated parents, and who was given the best education their elite lifestyle could afford, Bridget enjoyed her grandmothers stories. But she never once believed any of them, at least not until the night she met Tegan. She couldn't wait to tell Leni everything.

As he sat in front of the fire, Leni Hammond's pretty face appeared in Ryodan's mind once more. It angered him to know that she could come unbidden into his thoughts. Ruthlessly, he forced her out of his thoughts and pictured his dark haired, lovely Zayida, his wife, his only love.

_What if Tegan is right? What if he and Bridget are soulmates? What if Bridget McDonald is Rhianna? What if she has Rhianna's soul? Why did I refuse to exchange the binding vow with Zayida? I loved her so much. She wanted to do it, but I refused. What harm could it have done to humor her? Because of my arrogance, have I missed the chance to be her again?_

Ryodan's heart ached. He renewed his determination to help Zigor, Jericho Barrons, to find the Sinsar Dubh and all four singing stones. Although he would help in the search, all the Draghar, except Tegan, would go through the ceremony. They would go back in time. They would change things.

"I will bring you back to life, Zayida. We will be together again, my beloved wife; you will see. You will have my son, and we will exchange the binding vows this time. Our souls will never be parted again." he whispered fiercely into the flames.

On the bed, Moira listened quietly. She heard every word. One of Ryodan's friends had told her that he was once married to a woman named Zayida who died a long time ago. It pained her heart to hear Ryodan pour out his love to a dead woman. Moira was glad she was dead.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Due to travel delays both in New Jersey and Britain, Leni arrived in Ireland late Wednesday afternoon and was taken by limo to the small gatehouse on her uncle's estate. The gatehouse was a small, but luxurious, two bedroom cottage frequently used by their guests. Aunt Diana and Uncle Pat were in Geneva, Switzerland visiting the foreign office of one his many businesses; they were not scheduled to return home until two days before the wedding. Uncle Pat was quite wealthy, but Leni did not know exactly what he did for a living.

The gatehouse was perfect for Leni as she didn't want to rattle around her aunt and uncle's twenty room mansion and bother the servants. With Bridget living with Tegan, and Sean sharing an apartment in Dublin with three other male students, the mansion was empty and would be until her aunt and uncle returned home.

After twelve years living with her grandmother in a small bungalow or in a small apartment, Leni felt far more comfortable in less fancy digs. Growing up, she was a tomboy who always seemed to have a dirty face and even dirtier hands. She was filled with restless energy and always seemed to be running around and stumbling into things like he cousin Sean. Leni always wished she were more like Bridget who was calm and serene.

When she visited her aunt and uncle, Leni was always afraid she would break something valuable, dirty one of her aunt's expensive oriental carpets, or scratch a piece of their antique furniture. She was terrified that she would break one of her uncle's sculptures or other expensive pieces of art. Uncle Pat was something of an art collector and had an eclectic collection strategically placed all over the house. Even after she grew out of her tomboy phase, Leni was always uncomfortable in their elegant home.

After being dropped off by Sean, Leni collapsed on the bed in the largest bedroom. She slipped off her loafers, but didn't bother to take off her clothes until much later when she got up to shower and change into pajamas. Tired from jet lag, an exhausting flight and an even more tiring prior three weeks, she slept fitfully for almost twenty four hours. Despite her exhaustion, her sleep was interrupted by dreams of her grandmother and grandfather' the Tuatha De and fairy princes.

Leni dreamed of her fifteenth birthday and of meeting Danal, the Fae prince who was her grandfather. When her eyes first beheld her grandfather standing in the kitchen of her grandmother's house, she was blinded by his beauty. Tall, powerfully built, with dark chocolate brown hair frosted with honey gold, luminous copper eyes, his beauty had an unearthly quality to it. His beauty was the kind that would make a woman's knees weak. The kind she would die to touch.

For a few seconds, Danal's skin, hair and eyes radiated with strange iridescent colors; he glowed with a warm golden aura. He voice was musical, lilting, with an odd accent, and it was hypnotic, mesmerizing. Somewhere a part of her knew that the beautiful creature embracing and kissing her grandmother was not human. For a split second, she wondered if Gran knew that, but that doubt lasted only until she saw the look on her grandmother's face. Gran knew this man well.

As Danal turned his head to look at her standing in the kitchen doorway, he smiled, and all was right with the world. He shimmered,muting his radiance; it was as if he turned down the brightness and contrast on a color television. His strange coloring and aura disappeared. He was simply just an unusually handsome man.

Gran was beautiful to Leni; she was tall and stately with lovely unlined skin and pale blonde hair that had turned white with age. Still Leni frequently saw a look of deep loss and loneliness in Gran's beautiful violet eyes. Her grandmother's eyes had often seemed haunted and sad. That day, the loneliness and sadness were gone, replaced by a look of pure joy. Her grandmother looked truly happy as she never done before.

If the eyes are windows to the soul, Catriona O'Gallagher and Danal's eyes were deep reflecting mirrors showing their deep love for one another. Their love was a was boundless; it had no end; it transcended time.

When Gran and her grandfather kissed, Leni thought it was magic, like nothing she had ever seen before. She froze staring at them frozen in awe; she felt like a voyeur watching something so sacred and private that it should not be seen by anyone else but them. From that day forward, Leni wanted to be loved like that.

Danal had given Leni her golden cuff that day and asked her to wear it always for protection. Leni did as she was asked. After Danal had left, Leni was bursting with questions, but she got no answers that day. Catriona O'Gallagher could not bring herself to talk about the man she loved. It was only in the last six months that Leni learned morel about Danal, but being a realist with her feet planted firmly on the ground, Leni believed only a fraction of what her grandmother told her. She loved her grandmother dearly, but the rest she dismissed as the ravings of an abandoned woman with a broken heart.

Always seemingly hale and hearty, Gran had suddenly had a stroke in early November. Mentally alert, Gran was grateful that her speech had not been impaired, but she lost the use of her legs and right arm and was bedridden for the better part of two months. With drugs and physical therapy, she seemed to be recovering well when an unexpected embolism caused a heart attack.

Gran died three days later on January 3rd, two weeks before Leni's twenty second birthday. Swapping shifts with co-workers, Leni spent at least three days a week in Sea Isle with her grandmother. It was during that time that Gran truly opened up and spoke about her Danal. It was also during that time that Leni's fiance, Phil, started to stray.

Leni had moved in with Philip that past September and gotten engaged a short while later. Philip used those three days a week in a way that Leni never expected. Apparently unable to cope with being left by himself while Leni took care of her grandmother, Philip resumed an affair with a former girlfriend. He told Leni that after she caught him cheating and broke their engagement. Gran had never liked Phil; she had tried to get Leni to break off with him months before.

As she grew up, Gran had often told Leni and her cousins stories about fairies, leprechauns and the other mystical magical folk of the British Isles, especially Ireland. She often called Leni and Bridget her little fairy princesses and Sean her young fairy prince. Leni loved the stories, of course, but she thought they were just fairy tales. One night Gran began to talk about Danal.

"He is Tuatha De, one of the 'Old Ones," and he is a Fae prince; a noble prince of the Seelie or Light Fae, and he is my soul mate. I know you don't believe in such things, Leni, but it is true. Although he was not born to one of the royal Seelie houses, but he is nevertheless a prince and a member of a noble family.

He and his family are a powerful Fae clan sworn to protect the Fae queen. He is a courtier who still protects Queen Aiobheal today, but he says that she is gone into hiding in fear of the Unseelie King and those who would destroy the walls between Earth and Faery. He has been searching for his queen for years, and although I have seen him often during these years, he must not stay long for fear of exposing me to the other Fae who are a danger to women like you and me."

"I did not grow up with my parents like other children. I was an illegitimate child and my mother gave me up to abbess at a monastery outside of Dublin when I was six. I was raised there and lived with other women and girls like me until Danal brought me here. She said I was sidhe seer; a human woman who could see the Fae. We have been born and bred to protect the human race from the Fae, but only females can be sidhe seers."

"The Fae are immortal, magical creature who use glamour to hide themselves from normal humans. They can use their magic to bend time and space and control the laws of nature and physics. They can control even the weather. Seelie, or Light Fae are unbelievably beautiful creatures. Unseelie, or Dark Fae are grotesque, horrible monsters. The danger to normal humans from both Seelie and Unseelie was immense."

"For millennia, the Fae dominated this planet. They considered humans as inferior and hardly sentient. They cruelly tortured and used humans for their pleasure in an abominable manner. From the dawn of time, women like us, sidhe seers, could see and sense the Fae when normal humans could not. We protected humanity from the Fae and we were honored among all the people for that."

"But as is the way of most beings who think they are omnipotent, the Fae were eventually driven from Earth after a great battle. They were driven back to their realm they called Faery. About 4,000 BC, a compact was made between humans and the Fae, and the Fae were forbidden to spill human blood. Many Fae were unwilling to abide by that compact, so a Fae prince named V-Lane started the Great Hunt, using Unseelie Hunters, or Dark Fae to hunt down sidhe seers and kill them or take them to Faery where they lived until they died."

"Danal told me that something has happened. The walls between Faery and Earth have almost collapsed and the Unseelie Hunters are on the move again, hunting and killing sidhe seers. Both Seelie and Unseelie are coming through intent on conquering the human race once more."

"I had just turned eighteen when Danal suddenly appeared to me one afternoon as I was working outside planting potatoes in a field at place where I lived. Being sidhe seer, I knew immediately that he was Fae, but he was so beautiful, I was not afraid. I followed him into a thick copse of trees, and talked to him. He told me a story I will never forget. I fell in love with Danal that day, Leni. I knew he was in love with me."

"He told me that we were soul mates, and that we had lived and loved each other many times in the past. He said we will meet and love again many times in the future. He said it was time for him to claim me as his own again in this lifetime, and in my soul I knew it was true. We made love in the copse for the first time that afternoon. We met every day for months, and I finally found myself pregnant with Sarah and Diana."

"The abbess found out that I was carrying Danal's children. I was betrayed by another sidhe seer, a woman a little older than I called Rowena. Rowena was ambitious and wanted to make a name for herself. She wanted to be abbess one day.

She followed me for days as I met with Danal. I was beaten and locked in a cell. The abbess said I was a traitor to my kind, and that I had betrayed all of them by loving a Fae male. She said my children were an abomination, and she was gong to force me to have an abortion."

"While I was with Danal in the woods, he tattooed me with his mark once day. He said he would always be able to find me because of his mark. He also gave me a gold protection cuff like yours, but I always kept it covered by long sleeves.. The abbess found the cuff, but she didn't think to look for Danal's mark." Gran showed Leni the tattoo on her scalp hidden by her long thick white hair.

"Danal broke through the magic wards that protect the abbey and found me. He used his Fae magic to rescue me and shifted us here to Sea Isle City. He said no one would find me here. If he had not done that me and my daughters would have died, and you would not have been born. He was here the night that Diana and Sarah were born. We both knew instantly that neither child were sidhe seers; we would have felt it if they were. But since I was, only later, after Diana married your uncle did I dare to return to Ireland. By that time, I believed that the abbess and the other sidhe seers had forgotten about me."

"So you and Danal were never married?" Leni asked.

"Oh yes, we were married. Not in a legal human ceremony, but in a magic one. We exchanged the Druid marriage vows. The Druids served the Fae in exchange for magical knowledge, but the Druids taught certain Fae certain things including this binding vow. It is a powerful magic spell that binds two people who are soul mates together for eternity. Druids believed that the soul is reincarnated many times and the binding vow brings two souls together many times."

As she dreamed, Leni remembered the weird feeling she got as her grandmother spoke, "Gran, why did grandfather give me the Fae protection cuff? Why didn't he give mom, Aunt Diana or Bridget a cuff too?"

"Because you are sidhe seer too, child. They are not. I know because you saw a Fae male at the airport the Christmas before you turned fifteen. Do you remember the very handsome man in the ladies room when we were waiting to board our plane. Do you remember the woman who was looking at him taking and taking off her off her clothes. She was touching herself all over, and she wanted to have sex with him. Do you remember that? I got you out of there in a hurry because you pointed at him." Gran said. Leni nodded; she remembered that very strange incident.

"No one but you and I could see him or the woman. The other women in the ladies room just walked around him, as if he were invisible, used the facilities, washed their hands and left. I was so afraid that he would see us and know that we could him. He would have killed us if he had found us out. That's why I covered your mouth with my hand and rushed us out of there. I summoned Danal as soon as we got home and told him. He made the protection cuff for you."

"Why didn't he tattoo me like he did you?"

"Danal believes that only your soul mate should leave his mark on you. He believes that the cuff will protect you until you find your soulmate. Your soul mate will protect you then. You will find him, Leni. I know he is out there somewhere. I have seen him, but I don't know when or where you will meet. I don't know his name, and I have never seen his face, but I know he is your soul mate."

Leni woke up, went to the bathroom and took a drink of water. When she returned to bed, she dreamed of Ryodan, the man she met on the plane. The dreams were intensely erotic. Leni didn't usually remember her dreams, but she did that day, especially the ones about Ryodan. They were replaying vividly in her mind like an old rerun on TV. She was hardly a prude, she loved sex as much as the next woman, but the memories of those explicit dreams made her blush.

The noise of running water, the sound of a teakettle being filled and the sound of a radio turned to a popular Dublin rock station alerted Leni to Bridget's presence. Her cousin was was singing along with the radio in her sweet soprano voice as she made tea in the kitchen. After getting dressed, Leni dragged herself into the kitchen and hugged Bridget from behind.

Bridget didn't hear Leni enter the room. When grabbed from behind, Bridget jumped and almost dropped a pretty porcelain china teacup into the sink. She caught it in time before it shattered.

"Oh God,you scared me, Munchkins. it's so good to see you. I have so much to tell you." Bridget squealed as she turned and hugged her cousin back; her face was flushed with happiness. She was already talking about Tegan and her wedding; her mouth seemed to be going a mile a minute.

"Take a breath, Bridey; I'm not going anywhere. Oh, no tea for me; I need coffee," Leni said as she found the coffee and coffee pot. Looking into the refrigerator, she found a bowl of eggs, bread and butter and began to prepare scrambled eggs and toast. "Do you want some?" she asked Bridget.

Her cousin took a small portion of eggs and a slice of toast. "Have to watch my figure, especially now; I'm four weeks pregnant. Tegan are I are so happy, but I haven't told my parents yet. So don't say anything." Bridget almost burst with happiness as she relayed the news to her cousin.

Leni had been surprised to learn that Bridget was getting married; this news stunned her even more. Her cousin had always maintained she didn't want to get married or have children until she was in her thirties. She seemed so determined to make a name for herself in her career that Leni never doubted her for a minute. Whoever this guy was, Tegan sure had a powerful influence on her beautiful cousin.

Still talking in an excited fashion about her fiance, Bridget pulled out a digital camera and began showing Leni pictures of Tegan and her in various places. The two were so obviously in love, it made Leni a little envious.

Leni was shocked as she looked at the pictures. Tegan looked enough like Ryodan, the man from the plane, that they could be brothers or cousins. She told Bridget about him and what had happened, but this time what he did struck her as funny. Leni was not one to stay angry with anyone for any length of time; it wasn't in her nature. She told her story, using her hands and facial gestures for emphasis..

"I mean seriously, Bridey. What did he think I was going to do? Jump his bones right there in front of God and everybody?" she laughed as she relayed the story of his crude come on. By the time she finished, both women were laughing so hard they almost cried.

"That just has to be Tegan's friend, Ryodan, from Chester's. I've gotten to know him quite well, and I can really see him doing something like that. He's been with going with this woman named Moira for years now, but he cheats on her right and left, and she lets him get away with it. You're right; he does seem to think he is God's gift to women." Bridget remarked, confirming all of Leni's worst doubts about Ryodan. He seemed even more like Philip than ever.

The two woman chatted a while longer catching up on everything that had happened since they'd seen each other at their grandmother's funeral in January. A few minutes later, Leni said, "I have something for you from Gran." She went into the bedroom and searched her still filled suitcase. Returning in a few minutes, she had a small velvet box and an envelope in her hand.

Bridget opened the box and gasped, "Oh, Leni! It's so beautiful," she breathed as she pulled out a delicately wrought, but sturdy gold chain that held a small gold amulet. The amulet was unlike anything either girl and seen before; it was unusual and quite beautiful. Rectangular in shape, it had the head of a unicorn etched into the gold, and Bridget's name inscribed on the front in an elaborate cursive script. The back was almost entirely engraved with tiny Celtic runes similar to those on Leni's cuff. The amulet looked far more expensive than Gran could afford; it felt warm and good in Bridget's hand.

She opened the envelope. On old parchment, penned with gold ink, Bridget read the words, "To my darling granddaughter, Bridget, A gift to be worn on your wedding day. You have found your soulmate, and I am so happy for you. Love, Gran."

"How did she know I was going to get married? I hadn't even met Tegan when she died, and I never once considered marrying Jerry?" Bridget asked in surprise.

"How do you think, Bridey? Gran often knew things before they happened, just like I sometimes do. I know you never believed it, but it is true. How else can you explain this?" Leni replied.

"You mean you knew I was going to marry Tegan?" Bridget said and looked suspiciously at her cousin. She had never believed that Leni or her grandmother had second sight. She didn't believe in such things; neither did her mother. Still, her grandmother's note and gift left her in doubt now.

"No. I can't say that I did. Here let's me put this on you." Leni said as she moved behind Bridget's chair and clasped the medallion around her neck.

Bridget's hand came up and stroked the medallion. She took her compact out of her purse and looked in the mirror. She moved the mirror from side to side getting different views of the small amulet. It stood out against the fabric of her dark green silk blouse. "It feels like it belongs there. I never want to take it off," Bridget said in a surprised voice.

"That's how I feel about my bracelet. I feel like it's alive some times. It's strange, but I feel like it knows me," Leni looked down and stroked the gold cuff on her left arm.

Bridget reached out and touched the cuff "They both feel warm, and they both tingle a little. Do you feel it?" she asked with a look of amazement on her face.

Leni nodded; she intuited that the medallion had been given to Gran by their grandfather, Danal, as a present for Bridget, but she didn't say anything. She had never told Bridget about meeting their grandfather. Both Gran and Danal made her promise never to say anything about him.

Leni touched Bridget's amulet. The gold in the stunning piece of jewelry and its and chain was similar to the gold in her cuff; it looked different than gold in a jewelry store in a way that she couldn't explain. She wondered if the runes on the back also contained a protection spell. The girls continued to chat for hours.

Around seven o'clock, Bridget decided it was time to shower and get dressed to go out. She wanted to introduce Leni to Tegan at Chester's later, but first they were going to stop at her Uncle Marty's pub about four blocks away from Chester's. During college, Leni had supplemented her college fund by performing as lead singer in a local county music band named Vixen. Bridget's uncle, Marty McDonald, had asked her to bring Leni by his pub. He wanted to ask her to sing with them on Friday and Saturday night. Tonight they were going to stop by and meet the band.

Martin McDonald, owned several bars in and around Dublin, including a large pub in the Temple District that sometimes featured American county singers on the weekends. He played guitar himself and often sat in on jam sessions with professional musicians whenever he had the chance. Having spent some time in New Jersey, Marty McDonald had heard Leni sing several times and was enthralled by her clear alto voice.

Bridget went through the meager wardrobe that Leni had brought with her and selected a midnight blue sleeveless dress for Leni to wear. The a deep V-neckline showed a little cleavage, and the short slightly full skirt that ended about four inches above her knees showed off Leni's shapely legs. The back of the dress plunged almost to the waist emphasizing the graceful curve of her back and the creamy whiteness of her soft skin.

She pulled out thigh high silk stockings with garters and four inch heels for Leni to put on. The made silk stockings and garters made Leni feel very feminine. Leni put on a matching silver necklace and earrings.

Bridget dressed in a sleeveless light green sheath that ended at mid thigh showing off long, slim, gorgeous legs, creamy white shoulders, throat and arms. A matching jacket, stiletto heels and a diamond necklace with matching earrings and bracelet given to her by Tegan adorned completed her outfit. She gave Leni an evening jacket to wear over her dress since the evenings in Dublin were quite cool at this time of year.

After they finished dressing, both woman looked at themselves in the full length mirror on the bathroom door. What they saw were two hot, sexy, physically fit women. They were pleased with what they saw.

Leaving Marty's around ten, Bridget parked her Jaguar in front of what looked like an empty commercial warehouse. She and Leni walked down an alley beside the building to the back. A big dumpster filled with foul smelling garbage was situated about twenty feet from a steel trapdoor that looked similar to a cellar door.

Giving a mighty yank, Bridget pulled the door open and snapped on a small flashlight. Inside, Leni could see an old metal ladder descending into what looked like a deep hole.

"You got to be kidding me, Bridget. Do you expect us to climb down that skinny ladder in these shoes? Are you nuts?" Leni asked the other blonde. Her shoes weren't her only consideration. Thoughts of rats and other vermin scurrying round in the darkened hole made her shudder."

Bridget only turned around, hitched up her skirt and started down the ladder, and Leni followed. At the bottom, there was another trap door and another ladder. At the bottom of the second ladder, they stood in a large room. It was a large chic, modern foyer in front of a pair of huge double doors. The doors looked about four inches thick. Bridget pulled open one door, and the two women stepped inside.

The club itself was as surprising as its strange location; Leni hated it the moment she stepped inside the doors. It was huge, loud and pulsing with light and sound. It reminded her of several nightclubs Philip had taken her to in Manhattan, only it was much, much bigger. It was opulent and dark. It had shiny, modern chrome and glass tables with and black and white booths and chairs, white walls and black carpet. The place gleamed unnaturally under over head lights and metallic wall sconces.

Leni could hear huge ventilation fans as they sucked smoke out of the air. The loud noise gave Leni a headache,and she felt a little sick and out of place. As she looked around,it didn't take Leni long to realize that there was a lot more than drinking and talking going on in booths and tables. The placed reeked of alcohol, drugs and sex.

A large chrome and glass bar surrounded by tall bar stools sat in the middle of the floor. Artsy expensive prints and mirrors hung on the walls. Most people would consider it the height of chic, but to Leni it was so impersonal, it lacked any real atmosphere in her eyes. The place oozed with sensuality and decadence. It was the sort of place where the wealthy and powerful go to play.

Several multilevel dance floors lit with the flashing colors of strobe lights were crowded with writhing bodies dancing to the loud rock music that blasted insistent sexual rhythms though speakers hidden somewhere in the tall ceilings. In the back an open tread stairway led to the club's second floor. Leni assumed their were private rooms and an office up there.

The club's patrons were an eclectic mix of young beautiful men and women, socialites, jet setters, professionals and financial types, actors and other media stars looking to hook up with someone. Gorgeous men and women who looked like models hung out at the bar hoping to be picked up by some wealthy partner for the night. Others patrons appeared older, wealthier, more distinguished and definitely more powerful. Everyone was dressed to the nines and out for a good time.

Chester's reminded Leni of a large, underground, industrial warehouse that had been converted into one of the most successful nightclubs in Ireland. She hated it the moment she stepped inside.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ryodan watched Bridget and Leni arrive on the security monitors upstairs. He couldn't keep his eyes off Leni as she descended both ladders; her dress had ridden up, giving him a good view of her shapely legs, encased in silk stockings and blue garters. He liked the way her small feet and trim ankles looked in her thin, high heels. Bridget was beautiful as always, but to Ryodan, she had nothing on her smaller cousin. Leni looked sexier than hell to him.

The two beautiful women walked gracefully toward the back and sat down in a booth and ordered a drink. A waitress approached and a few minutes later brought their order. Leni ordered an American beer in a long neck bottle and Bridget a mixed drink. Leni leaned toward Bridget, smiled and laughed at something she said. When the little blonde smiled, her whole face was transformed from merely pretty to stunningly beautiful. Ryodan was transfixed by the change.

Leni tilted her head back and took a sip. Her pink, full lips pursed lightly around the mouth of the brown glass bottle held up by one small delicate hand. He imagined her enticing lips on him, on a most sensitive organ. His groin tightened naturally in response to his thoughts.

Since Tegan wasn't in the bar yet, Ryodan decided to go down and greet his friend's fiance and her cousin. Leni was sitting facing the stairs that he descended; he could feel her curious eyes on him as he approached their table. He stopped to talk with several people along the way, including two very gorgeous women. With his peripheral vision, he saw Leni's violet eyes as she continued to stare at him as he neared their booth. He smiled inwardly; the little blonde was definitely attracted to him as he meant her to be.

When he reached the table, he flashed his brightest smile at the two women, said hello, sat down next to Leni and turned toward her.

"Whose your pretty friend, Bridget?" he asked even though he knew who Leni was.

"This is my American cousin, Leni Hammond. She is here for the wedding. I asked her to be my Maid of Honor," Bridget replied.

Ryodan looked directly into Leni's eyes, smiled and raised her fingertips to his lips. "It's nice to formally meet you, Leni. You didn't tell my your name on the plane." Leni's heart began to flutter, and she felt warm. His smile deepened.

_This is working out just fine_, he thought.

Ryodan was far more handsome that Leni remembered. He was simply huge, but he was all lean muscle. As he stood talking to other men, Leni could see he dwarfed the average human male. Taller, at least 6'6"; he was massive in a way that reminded her of a huge perfectly shaped oak tree. His chest, arms and legs were slabs of muscle; his neck was thick; his shoulders strong and his hips narrow.

His face seemed the epitomy of what a man's face should look like. Broad cheeks, high forehead, a straight nose, a firm chin with a hint of a cleft and wide, full sensual lips. wide silky. His straight, black hair hung loosely down his back and gleamed with a silky sheen. Even under the neon lights, his golden skin glowed with vitality.

For more than ten minutes, Leni watched as Ryodan slowly made his way to them. He stopped and talked to many people, both male and female. As he moved, she noted that he radiated a strange aura or energy that lured the female sex. Women preened and tried to gain his attention by touching him lightly on his arm or shoulder. They flirted, smiled and tried to engage him in conversation. Many blushed coyly when he spoke to them. Even women who accompanied other men seemed curiously drawn to him. She saw more than one jealous man jerk his companion's arm or whisper fiercely in their ear when Ryodan strode past.

He flirted and smiled back at them, but the smile never really seemed to reach his eyes. It occurred to Leni that Ryodan was knowingly toying with these women. He didn't really care a fig about any of them, but he enjoyed being the center of so much female attention. He expected it. That seemed arrogant and conceited to Leni; it confirmed her worst suspicions that Ryodan thought himself to be some sort of gift to womankind.

There was one woman that did seem to get to him. She was a tall redhead with green eyes and the most flawless complexion Leni had ever seen. She was sophisticated and gorgeous with a dynamite figure; she was absolutely beautiful in Leni's eyes. She sat alone at a booth not too far from the girls nursing a martini and watched Ryodan carefully as he walked through the nightclub.

The woman's eyes seemed to eat Ryodan up; it was clear that she was in love with him. He stopped, sat down with her and talked quietly for a few minutes. The woman's green eyes teared up; her face paled and she looked distraught as if he had just delivered bad news. As Ryodan stood up, she got up and ran to the Ladies Room near the back stairway.

When Ryodan turned around toward Bridget and Leni, he looked a little upset and angry himself, but he also looked determined. Leni marveled that someone could actually affect the big man. Nevertheless, she felt sorry for the redhead.

"Ry, this is my American cousin, Leni Hammond. She's here for the wedding." Bridget said smiling at Ryodan as he finally made it to their table.

"We've already met on the plane, but it's nice to formally meet you, Leni Hammond," Ryodan said with a toothy grin as put out his big right hand. Leni had no choice but to place her smaller hand in his and shake it. His hand felt hot; she felt a spark of electricity as he touched her. It was all she could do not to yank her hand away from him.

Leni had known many handsome men who attracted women by their natural good looks or the sheer force of their personality, but this guy was ridiculous. He was superlatively male; he exuded virility and a carnality so raw and hot, she wondered why women didn't burst into flames from simply touching him. He had an aura about him that was intensely sexual and masculine. The allure of that aura was uncanny and preternatural.

She suddenly remembered her grandmother saying that Fae males used the magic of glamour to attract human females. From the way those other women looked at him, Ryodan seemed to posses the same ability to entice women. Although she was sure that Ryodan was not Fae, Leni wondered if his allure was somehow based on a similar magic. Whatever it was, she believed it was beyond the normal human ability. It gave Ryodan an unfair advantage over women, and he was not above using it.

Leni hated the fact that she felt his allure too. She definitely was not immune to him. When he looked at her, she was drawn to his black eyes that hinted at a deeply passionate nature and seemed to promise unimaginable sexual delights. When those intense, intelligent dark eyes stared into hers, Leni felt like she was drowning. She had an uncontrollable urge to explore the mysteries contained therein.

_Get a grip, girl. This guy is bad news._ She said to herself, blinked several times and turned her face away. She forcefully pushed the attraction to him out of her mind. When she felt under control again, she resumed her part of the conversation, but she had no real consciousness of what was being said.

Being around Ryodan was like standing next to a large electric power generator. The very air around him seemed to crackle and hum with an electric current. Leni could feel the hair on her arms raise as his nearness stimulated her. Her hair crackled with static. It was an altogether disconcerting feeling.

The longer Ryodan sat next to her. The more Leni was aware of him at an almost atomic level. It was as if he was inexorably pulling her to him, drawing her inside of him, and she could do nothing to stop him. His aura enveloped her in its sensual warmth. The feeling that her whole body was being intimately caressed was so strong that she looked twice to make sure his hands were not on her. She almost sighed as she closed her eyes and gave herself up to the pleasurable feeling, if only for a few moments. The feeling she had was indescribable.

In their natural form, when a Draghar male wanted sex with a female, using small internal organs located near their testes, he "casted" to her, exuding particularly potent sexual pheromones. After being accepted by an alpha male into his harem, females were irresistibly drawn to the specific pheromones of that male, especially during their rare estrus cycles.

Males had to lure the females by casting since they were generally uninterested in sex, unless it was to procreate. It was only during their five estrus cycle that the females were biologically driven to initiate sex on their own. It was only during estrus that the female could become pregnant and casted her own pheromones to her alpha male. The infrequency of estrus kept their planet from being over populated.

Although the male kept a harem, once sexually initiated by her alpha male, the female was monogamous. The pheromones of other males would produce a fighting instinct in her. She would kill herself before she let another male touch her. That kept males away from females who belonged to other Draghar. It was an efficient biological way to ensure harmony, yet ensure the continuation of the species.

When they assumed human form, Draghar males retained a vestigial casting organ, but they did not have to use it on human females. Perhaps it was because human female were constantly fertile and able to conceive year round. Perhaps it was because of the of residual potency of their vestigial casting organ that caused Draghar males to radiate virility and an intense masculinity that made them irresistible to human females. As she sat beside him, Leni had no way of knowing this; she only knew she felt a deep attraction to the big dark man who sat beside her.

As he sat beside Leni, Ryodan casted her. He was intentionally inundated her senses. He deliberately turned his sex pheromones up high and broadcasted then to her on full blast. Leni could not help but feel Ryodan's unnatural allure. It made every cell of her body nervous, edgy and uncomfortable. She felt an unexpected burst of lust that was so deep, she burned from its intensity. She felt the raw power of his sexual aura. It made her feel weak and completely out of control of her senses.

From deep within, Leni understood that Ryodan was somehow causing this. That knowledge made her angry and a little afraid of him. She moved as far away from him in the booth as she could. Ryodan had been talking to Bridget, but he turned toward her as she moved with a ghost of a mocking smile on his face. He knew exactly what she was feeling.

"Ry, do you mind keeping Leni company for a few minutes? I see Tegan over there. I have something for him; I'll be right back," Bridget asked.

Leni started to signal her cousin to stay put, but Bridget was out of her seat already and moving toward the front of the club. Leni sighed in resignation. She was going to be alone with Ryodan whether she wanted to be, or not.

"So, are you still angry with me, little girl? Nice dress, by the way. You look quite sexy in it." he said grinning widely, he was thoroughly enjoying her discomfort.

Leni made a huffing sound as if his opinion was of no importance to her. "Life's too short to be angry with the likes of you. Besides, I have better things to do than think of you."

"Is that so, and just what are those "better" things? Someday you must tell me; I'd be interested to know," he teased.

"How do you like my place?" he added, changing the subject.

A new song started playing and the people of the dance floor started hooting and howling. The noise level got so loud that Leni had to learn in much closer to him to answer. She didn't want to tell him that she didn't like the place, so she said, "Well. It's pretty big. You have quite a large crowd."

Frowning, Ryodan said, "In other words, you don't like it?"

"It's not that. It's just that it's so loud in here, you can't hear yourself think," she lied.

"Most people who come here do not come to think. They come to play."

"I gathered that," Leni said wryly discreetly pointed at a couple a few booths down. They were groping each other so openly and so wantonly, she wondered if they were going to do the funky money right there in front of a whole crowd of people. "Those two really need to get a room," she said.

"Are you a prude, Leni." Ryodan asked curiously. "Or do you just not like sex?"

"I like sex just fine, thank you very much, but there is a time and a place for everything. This is definitely not the time or place for that. Besides, I think people should exercise a little self control in public don't you?" she sniffed in a haughty tone. Ryodan only smiled.

Leni couldn't think of anything else to say, and after an awkward silence, Ryodan surprised her by asking her to dance. Signaling someone with a wave of his hand, the music changed to a much slower tempo by the time they got to the dance floor. Ryodan pulled Leni into his arms and placed one of her small hands in his, and the other on his shoulder. He moved his other hand to her bare back, above the swell of her hips. He began to move, and Leni found her small body easily following his much larger one. They moved in sync as if they had danced together a million times before.

Their bodies flowed together; they moved gracefully as one to the music. After a minute, Ryodan pulled Leni tighter against him; her cheek was resting against his large chest. He lowered his own cheek to the top of her head and laid it there as he inhaled her scent. She was like a bouquet of honeysuckle and lavender. Her smell intoxicated him. Ever so lightly, he pressed his lips to her hair.

As they danced, Ryodan's emanation encased her again and Leni felt the muscles of her inner core tighten. A warmth that was sweet and liquid suffused her above the juncture of her thighs and pooled there. Hot, large fingers touched her and softly made small circles across the bare skin of her back. Leni trembled; she felt like she was on fire.

Her nipples peaked into little hard buttons as they brushed up against his shirt. She looked up at him to find him staring down at her with an intense carnal look in his eyes. She felt blood rush to her face; she began to find it hard to keep her breathing regular. She could hear the sound of her heart pumping wildly and the blood rushing through her veins. She wondered if he could hear it too.

Ryodan was breathing unevenly too; she could hear the rapid beat of his heart. His body trembled against her as they danced. She felt his arousal; their bodies were so close, she could feel his erection hard against her belly, and it was growing larger by the second. Ryodan as much affected by her as she was with him, and for some reason that surprised him.

Unexpectedly, Ryodan bent a little and blew lightly into her ear. Leni quivered as a wave of pure ecstasy rocked her body; she almost orgasmed right there on the dance floor. She felt hot and cold at the same time. Her knees buckled; she would have fallen if Ryodan hadn't been holding her up against his large body.

"Don't you do that!" she commanded in a low, but fierce voice. Ryodan laughed softly and did it again and again. Frissons of erotic pleasure sparked along her spine; every nerve ending lit up with desire for more. Memories of her explicit dreams earlier that afternoon flooded her mind, and she blushed deep red embarrassment. Suddenly, she couldn't wait for the dance to end. When it did, she jerked away from him and almost ran to the booth where Bridget and Tegan now sat.

For a moment, Ryodan stood immobile and stared dumfounded at the little blonde as she rushed away. He had felt the powerful electricity between them. He had casted her to draw her to him, but it was she who seemed irresistible to him. It was as if she were a Draghar female sending out sex pheromones and luring him during her estrus cycle, and he knew that was impossible.

That never happened to him before, and he never heard of it happening to his fellow Draghar. Over the centuries, Ryodan had been sexually aroused by many human women, but they never attracted him with anything near the strength of the deep magnetic attraction he felt for Leni. He was deeply confused because not even his wife, Zayida attracted him that way.

For a moment, he wondered if he should leave Leni alone, but he knew he couldn't. He desire for her was like a living breathing thing with a life of its own. He wanted her, and he always got what he wanted, one way or the other. He told himself that he would enjoy her for a while, and when he finally tired of her, he would get rid of her, just like he did the others.

_She doesn't stand a chance,_ he thought confidently. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he followed her off the dance floor. He slid into the seat beside her and projected his aura, casting her again. Spreading his legs wide under the table, he deliberately pressed his left thigh lightly against her right one. He really enjoyed the sensations as heat and an intense feeling of electricity that flowed between them once more.

Leni stiffened and moved away again. A few minutes later, she and Bridget got up to go to the bathroom. Being human Bridget had no idea of what was going on, but Tegan's Draghar senses easily picked up Ryodan's pheromomes immediately. After the girl's left the booth, Tegan looked at Ryodan with narrowed eyes and asked. "What do you think you are doing? Do you know you are casting?"

"What is it to you, Te, unless you are planning to mate with her too? Will Leni be part of your harem now? Does she know? What does Bridget think of that?" Ryodan growled at his friend.

Tegan's hands fisted at his sides. "Don't insult Bridget or Leni either for that matter. Unlike the others, I haven't had more than one woman at a time since Rhianna. Bridget is my soul mate; she is the only woman I want; she is enough. Have you forgotten how you felt about Zayida already? How can you treat these women so?"

"Besides, Bridget loves Leni, and I sense that she is worthy of that love, so don't play games with her like you do with Moira and the others. Bridget told me what happened on the plane, and I know that you want her, but Leni is not one of your whores. She is family, and she is under my protection. If you hurt her, you will answer to me!" The big Draghar male ground the the words out between clenched teeth.

"Mind your own business, Te! What happens between Leni and I is our concern, not yours. I will not do anything to her that she does not want; I can assure you of that." Ryodan would have continued, but the girls came back to the table.

As she sat back down, Tegan noted the Fae cuff on Leni's arm; he became excited with this discovery and immediately forgot about Ryodan's games. He pointed to the cuff and began to ask questions.

"I have studied ancient languages, and I read Celtic runes, may I?" he asked politely. Leni reluctantly took the cuff off and handed it to Tegan. He examined it carefully and handed it to Ryodan, who did the same. Leni watched the two men as they turned it over and read the inscriptions. Both men seemed fascinated by the cuff, yet at the same time, they did not seem to like touching it.

"The runes spell out a magic spell to protect the wearer from harm. It is beautiful and quite valuable. You probably should keep it covered in places like this, so no one is tempted to steal it. Where did you get it, if I might ask?" Tegan asked quietly.

Ryodan handed the cuff back to Leni with a sardonic smile as if to say, "See, I really didn't intend to steal it." Leni put the cuff back on, and Ryodan swore he could hear her give a little sigh of relief. Leni had been advised by both her grandfather and grandmother not to divulge who gave her the cuff. "It is a matter of life and death," they both insisted. Leni didn't want to lie, so she told a half truth.

"From a very good friend of my grandmother on my 15th birthday. He said it was magic. Of course, I didn't believe him. I don't believe in magic," she replied.

Ryodan and Tegan knew she wasn't telling the truth, or at least not all of the truth, but the spell on the cuff seemed harmless enough and posed no danger. Later, they concurred there was no harm in allowing her to keep the cuff. They felt they would find out more in good time. Ryodan determined to ferret out her secrets; it was a job he looked forward to.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" Ryodan asked as he got up from the booth. Zigor had just come in with a date, a black haired beauty who reminded them all of Fiona, one of his old lovers. Zigor, their leader, who owned Barrons Books and Baubles, a bookstore not too far away, signaled Ryodan that he wanted to talk to him upstairs. Ryodan guessed that Barrons wanted to discuss the fiasco they had just suffered in New York trying to obtain the singing stone. Leaving his date at the bar, Barrons walked toward the back stairs.

Before Leni could answer, Bridget spoke up. "No, we can't. Leni is going to sing at my Uncle Marty's pub tomorrow night and Saturday. She has a really good voice. You should come, Ry. Her first set is at seven."

"I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world," he answered as he walked away grinning to himself.

A few minutes later, Bridget, Leni and Tegan got up to leave. None of them noticed Moira, who was sitting at the bar watching them. Moira was particularly interested in the little blonde who accompanied Tegan and his fiance. She didn't know who the new girl was, but she was going to find out. Hate filled Moira's eyes; it twisted her normally beautiful face into something quite ugly.

Moira watched Ryodan while he sat and talked to the blonde. She recognized the way he looked at the girl; he had once looked at her like that, although not as intensely. She had watched them while they danced. She was surprised at the depth of Ryodan's interest in the new girl. He had shown interest in many other women over the years, but tonight he actually looked shaken. Moira was burning with jealousy.

Ryodan had told her earlier on the phone and confirmed it later in the bar that they were over. He said he should have told her before, and he apologized for not having done so. "I cannot love you the way you want me to, Moira. I have told you that before. It is time you find someone who can," he said.

The pain of Ryodan's words nearly killed her, but Moira was not someone who gave up easily; she would find a way to change his mind. The new blonde would never have Ryodan if she had any say in the matter. She would find a way to get rid of her, even if she had to kill her. Ryodan would love her as she wanted. It was the way it was meant to be; it was their destiny to be together.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was almost twenty minutes after midnight when Leni, Bridget and Tegan left Chester's. Leni was not surprised to see that the club was still packed, with more people arriving. Bridget informed her that the nightclub was the most popular after hours joint in Dublin and would not close until after dawn. The nightclub had been extremely warm, so Leni shivered as the first blast of cool night air struck her overheated skin. The light evening jacket she had on didn't offer any real protection from the cold.

Earlier that day, Bridget had offered her the use of her Jaguar while she was in Ireland. With Bridget in the passenger seat, Leni drove the Jag on the roads around her aunt and uncle's house for more than two hours, until Bridget was satisfied that Leni was sufficiently familiar with driving on the other side of the road. This wasn't Leni's first experience with a manual transmission, so she had no problems with that.

With car keys at the ready in her right hand, Leni started down the alley in back of Chester's with Tegan and Bridget about five feet behind her. As she turned the corner on the side of the club, a cry from Bridget made her turn around. The tall blond had twisted her right ankle and broke the heel off her shoe.

Tegan picked his fiance up and followed Leni with Bridget in his arms. As he walked, he noticed Leni shivering under her inadequate jacket. "Go ahead, Leni. Get to the Jag and get out of the cold. We'll be right behind you," he said.

Running delicately on the balls of her feet so she would not break a heel herself, Leni ran down side alley to the street in front of the building. Making a left turn, she continued running to the end of the block where the Jaguar was parked. Her cousin and Tegan were behind her, but he was in no hurry as he teased Bridget about being clumsy. His car was parked closer to the alley, so they didn't have as far to go as Leni, anyway.

Bridget and Tegan had just rounded the front corner as Leni opened the Jag's driver side door, tossed her handbag on the passenger seat and prepared to get in the car. The sudden sound of an engine revving and the squeal of tires made her turn around. A small black Peugeot came racing down the narrow street from the opposite direction; as it neared, it swerved out of control and skidded straight toward her.

Leni froze as the high beam headlights of the oncoming car blinded her. The screech of the rubber tires against the cobblestones as the car hurtled toward her sounded like death approaching. From the depths of her primitive animal brain, her instincts shrieked for her to move out of the way, but her feet were riveted to the spot where she stood.

Just like an old cliché, time slowed down for Leni. A sense of otherness engulfed her. Everything became a blur of sight and sound. The old fashioned street lamps blurred with golden spiky streaks shooting from the center of the light. dazzling rainbow hues painted the windows of the buildings across the street. The Peugeot left long streaks of black in its wake. The scene reminded Leni of the visual effects of warp drive on the old Star Trek television series. Leni felt as if she was out of sync with the physical world around her.

The car kept coming toward her. She knew for sure it was going to die. "It's too soon; I haven't really lived yet." The words erupted in her mind, but still she could not move.

"Oh God! Leni, watch out!" A voice she recognized as Bridget's screamed in panic. Leni instinctively turned toward the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her cousin and Tegan standing at the corner; their eyes wide with pure panic and shock. However, what caught her eyes was an opaque, shapeless black blob that appeared along the driver side of a car about fifteen feet away from the two of them.

Leni blinked once and the black blob disappeared. In its place, the tall redhead, Moira, was standing with a cell phone to her ear. With her face showing clearly in the light of a street lamp nearby, the look on Moira's face was malevolent and evil; her lips were drawn back in a victorious smile. Leni gasped involuntarily at the intensity of hatred in Moira's eyes.

Suddenly, Tegan was behind her, swooping Leni up in his massive arms. He jumped straight up and over the small sports car. Leni felt them going airborne just before the other car hit the Jag and the driver side door was torn off its hinges. The jarring screech of metal on metal as the two cars collided sounded like the death cry of some huge prehistoric animal.

The Peugeot didn't stop; it already more than a block away and moving fast before Leni and Tegan landed on the other side of the car. Tegan's knees bent and his twisted slightly as his feet hit the sidewalk. Leni's leg smacked hard into the side view mirror; she knew from the sharp pain, she would end up with a good size bruise on the side of her calf.

Leni was in shock; her body was shaking; her knees were on the verge of collapsing and her mind reeled in horror. She realized how close to death she had come; she knew there wasn't anyway she would have survived the impact. She couldn't get Moira's evil look out of her mind, but here was something else that bothered her. Tegan and Bridget had been on the corner at least 200 feet away from her when Bridget screamed. Tegan was with Bridget one second and behind her the next. She hadn't even seen him move. How was that possible?

It was not that she wasn't grateful to Tegan for saving her life, because she was. Nevertheless, a nagging voice deep inside her told her there was no possible way that Tegan should have been able to reach her in time to save her in time; yet that was exactly what the big man did. Leni didn't believe in Superman or super heroes, but what Tegan did was extraordinary; it was far beyond the normal human abilities. Something was not right here.

Seconds later, Ryodan, Lor and Angus poured out onto the sidewalk next to the Jaguar through an entrance in the front of the building that Leni had not noticed when she and Bridget parked. The three Zaghar men had watched the car zooming toward Leni on the security monitors that covered the front of the building and acted accordingly. By that time, Bridget joined them, and everyone but Leni erupted in a cacophony of noise.

"Are you all right, Leni? See, only one night in Dublin and already someone is trying to kill you. Do you have to make everyone so angry?" Ryodan rasped harshly as he reached for her. He was trying to make a joke of the situation, but his face gave away the strong emotion he felt. He was breathing hard; his body was trembling from terror and the feeling of helplessness that overcame him as he watched the Peugeot bearing down on Leni. He had thought for sure she would be killed,and for a few seconds, he was flooded with fear for her.

Ryodan felt a strong urge to pull Leni into his arms and hold her safe from all harm, but he did none of those things. Instead, he ran his big hands lightly over her to determine if she had been hurt. When he was satisfied she was all right, he stopped.

Bridget joined Ryodan, but she had no qualms about squeezing her cousin tightly to her. "Are you alright?" She echoed Ryodan's question. "I was so afraid you'd be killed!" she sobbed as she embraced Leni.

Giving Leni one last pat, Ryodan walked away with Tegan and the other two big men. They started gesturing and speaking harshly in a guttural foreign language. Leni didn't need to understand what they were talking about to hear the anger in Ryodan's voice. From his reaction, she knew he was concerned about her more than he wanted to be.

"I'm fine, just a bruise on my leg. Tegan got to me in time, but your car...I'm so sorry, Bridey. I know how much you liked the Jag," Leni said in a quivering voice.

"Forget the car, Munchkin. You're all right. That's all that matters." Bridget exclaimed as he hugged Leni again.

"Did you see who was driving the car?" Ryodan asked a few minutes later when he walked back to her.

"No. The headlights were too bright. I couldn't even tell you if it was a man or a woman driving the car." Leni responded.

"It was a man, but I couldn't see his face." Bridget said.

"Ryodan will drive you home, Leni." Tegan said.

"What about the car?"

"We'll take care of it." Lor, who was standing next to Ryodan, said.

Ryodan disappeared and within five minutes, he pulled a large Mercedes along side the smashed Jaguar, opened the passenger door and Leni got inside. As they drove past Moira's car, Leni looked at the woman who was still standing outside the passenger door. She was still talking on the cell phone, and she was visibly angry. The look she gave Leni as she passed was hot enough to singe hair.

Ryodan turned and stared directly at his ex girlfriend's face. She smiled brightly at him, but his face was tight, and his eyes were shuttered. Leni had no clue what he was thinking. Turning to her, he said, "I'm really glad you're safe, Leni," and patted her hand softly.

During the twenty minute drive to the gatehouse, the two talked quietly. Ryodan found himself asking the little blonde questions about her life. Leni answered without hesitation. She noted out loud that it was the first time they had spoken together like two adults without sparring like two boxers in the ring.

Ryodan laughed in amusement when she said that. He had a reason to keep her talking: hearing her low musical voice with its flat American accent relieved the crippling sense of panic and horror that filled him earlier. He had been sure she was going to be crushed by the Peugeot, and that thought really terrified him.

He wondered why he would care if this obstinate, smart mouthed, irritating human woman was killed, but he did. He had known her less than three days, yet he felt the world would be a bleaker place without her presence. It must be because I haven't had the chance to get to sleep with her yet, he thought.

At the gatehouse, Ryodan got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side and helped Leni out. Gently taking her house keys from her hand, he unlocked the door and pushed the door open. "Are you going to invite me in, little girl, or are you afraid of me?" he asked in his old arrogant teasing manner.

"I'm tired Ryodan, and I want to go to bed. I've had enough excitement for one night, thanks. I appreciate the lift, though," she smiled as she started to step over the threshold.

Ryodan was loath to let her go. Without thinking he stepped inside the front door and closed it. Placing his big hand at the small of her back, he pulled her up and crushed her against his chest. Lowered his head , he brushed her lips lightly with his own and waited.

Leni's mouth betrayed her. As if her lips had a will of their own, they softened and opened just a little. In a flash, his wicked tongue was deep inside her mouth and playing with her, moving back and forth against her lips and teeth.

Her tongue instinctively reached for his and began to move against it. Their lips felt like they were on fire; they both seem to explode. A wet warmth suffused her groin making her body ready to receive him inside of her.

Ryodan's kiss assaulted Leni's senses and inflamed her. One small hand came up and tentatively touched his soft cheek as if to assure herself he was really there. The fingers of the other hand splayed through the silky long hair at the back of his head. She moaned and pulled him closer to her.

For what seemed like an eternity to her, Ryodan kissed her mouth and traced a hot wet tongue over her soft cheek to her ear lobe. He nibbled the sensitive flesh gently sending shivers down her spine. He continued his journey of exploration by trailing hot kisses down her throat to the spot where her pulse beat the strongest.

Leni arched her neck giving him full access to the tender spot. He lay his face against her neck for a long moment as he inhaled deeply of her scent. He could smell the sweet womanly spice of her arousal, and it excited him even more. After laving the exquisitely erotic spot on her throat with his tongue, Ryodan sucked gently against the delicate skin. He was deliberately leaving a hickey on her neck; he wanted the world to know it was his mark on her skin and no one else's.

A sigh escaped Leni as she felt the exquisite suction his lips. She cried out his name as his teeth scraped her skin. He bit down ever so gently, but did not break the skin; the sensation sent silvery thrills of pleasure through her.

Ryodan made spirals with his hot wet tongue around the hollows at the base of her throat, flicking his tongue in and out of the slight depressions. Leni's throat was inordinately sensitive, and she groaned as feathery light, but almost unbearably delightful sensations purled down her body to her inner core; she wanted more.

An earthier, deeper, more carnal wave of pure sensual feelings swept Ryodan as his mouth made love to Leni. Kissing her, touching her, feeling her shiver from the pleasure he gave her was exhilarating. Her response to him stimulated him as no woman had since Zayida. His already hard member expanded and lengthened until he felt he would explode right there.

Ryodan became aware of other feelings that concerned him. Leni was doing something to him and he didn't understand what was happening. All through his long existence on this planet, he had prided himself on the control of his own emotions with human women. He had always been in command of his emotions, and always knew exactly what he was doing. Tonight, Ryodan felt as out of control again as he had in the airport when he almost shifted into his natural beast form.

He was afraid he was losing himself in the physical sensations that flooded his body as he kissed and caressed Leni. A part of him wondered how much worse it would be if he actually had sex with her. He wanted Leni badly, but that thought was intensely disturbing; he could not allow that to happen.

Moving his head up, he stared deeply into her eyes, trying see if he could suss some reason for his strange behavior there. He watched her as he slowly kissed her again, studying the feel and taste her mouth as their lips and tongues caressed each other until they were both gasping for air. A tsunami of desire for Leni more powerful, deeper and stronger than mere lust either swamped him. He could feel her body shake against his.. She feels it too, he exulted to himself, but that was not enough to assuage his concern.

The air around them began to crackle as a strange emanation surrounded them. Strong rippling currents of electricity coiled around and through them, binding them together with its force. For a second, Ryodan did not recognize where his body stopped and Leni's began; they were one body, one being. He was stunned by the depth of the powerful emotions that roiled through him; it wasn't just lust he felt; it was an intense attraction so strong it shook him to his very core,and there were other feelings,softer, caring, protective. He definitely did not want those feelings; in fact, they rather scared him.

Leni was weak and dizzy with desire for the man who held her in his arms. She wanted to hold Ryodan so closely, he would be inside her skin. An unexplainable emotion that seemed bottomless and without end grew started flickering when he first touched her. It grew in intensity until was a total conflagration consuming her mind and heart. The feeling surrounded her; it consumed her, and there was no getting away from it. So far, Ryodan had done little more than kiss her; she wondered what would happen if they ever actually made love.

The feeling seemed so right that Leni surrendered herself to it completely. She moaned softly, tightening her embrace around Ryodan's powerful shoulders. Instead of continuing, he roughly pulled away from her and backed away, setting her down on the floor. She felt light headed and boneless. Her knees almost buckled. Her whole body shaking, but she could see that his big body was shaking too. Like her, his face and body were heated with a rosy flush.

"Who the fuck are you; what the fuck are you? What are you doing to me?" Ryodan whispered harshly. His dark eyes were clouded, and his face was a mask of confusion and anger. Opening the door, he stepped back outside and turned to face her again.

"Stay the hell away from me!" he snarled at her. Raising his left hand, he wiped it back and forth across his mouth, as if he were wiping something nasty off his lips.

Leni stared at him blankly not comprehending the change in him. She was cut to the quick by what he said and did. She was confused and humiliated by his actions. Her cheeks and ears flamed with the heat of embarrassment. Anger and pride gushed through her little body. She stepped forward and slapped him across the face.

"Go home, Ryodan. The kiss was a mistake; one that I won't make again. You can make book on that." Leni hissed at him. She whirled back into the house, slammed the door shut and locked it. Inside, she leaned against the door trying to figure out what just happened. She began to cry. Tears ran in rivulets down her face; angrily, she wiped them away.

She hadn't expected Ryodan to kiss her tonight. She should have pushed him away or slapped him. However, she just threw herself at him like some sex starved idiot, like one of those slutty women at the club. She had condemned them earlier tonight because they were so eager for him. They practically threw themselves at him. They were like robots without a mind of their own when he smiled or talked to them, but she was no better than they were.

They had not liked each other from the first time they met. Obviously, he had just been playing a game with her, probably just to get under her skin. He hadn't expected her to kiss him back that way, and he was clearly disgusted by her too ardent response. She had humiliated herself, and she was mortified.

Despite her efforts to make him think she was indifferent to his crude advances. Ryodan knew now exactly how strongly he affected her. That idea really stuck in her craw.. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got both with herself and with him.

She had sensed what he was from the beginning. As with Philip there were many warning signs she ignored. Ryodan may be an arrogant bastard for playing games with her, but she was a fool for falling for them. She was determined not to give him a chance to pull this stunt on her again. She steeled her resolve to stay as far away from him as she could while she was in Ireland. Let him go play his stupid games with some other poor woman and leave her alone.

She decided not say anything to Bridget or anyone about what happened tonight; the less said the better as far as she was concerned. She was relieved to think that Bridget would be married in a little over two weeks, and she would be free go home and get on with her life. Soon, Ryodan would just be an unpleasant memory. That thought suited Leni just fine.


	9. Chapter 9

This is a long chapter, but an important one I think. Hope you enjoy reading it.

Chapter 9

Leni was restless and nervous; despite everything she tried, she couldn't get to sleep. Warm milk and a hot bath followed by a cup of camomile tea did little to ease the tension and the curious sense of emptiness she felt. Unbidden, thoughts of Ryodan's kiss scorched her mind like a summer wildfire, and they tormented her.

The nerve endings in her mouth and throat still retained the memory of his touch. Lightly tracing the route of his kisses on the delicate skin of her throat with one soft fingertip, she summoned the feeling of his hot, wet, wicked tongue as it traveled along the vein in her throat. She thought about how her body jumped when he did that. She could feel once again the goose bumps and the wonderful silvery shivers that moved up and down her body spine.

She relived the feathery soft feeling of his breath in her ear, and how he smelled and tasted. She hugged herself and recalled the extraordinary heat of his big body and how good it felt to be in his arms. His kisses left her breathless, and she didn't care. When Ryodan pulled away from her, his warmth and been swiftly replaced by cold and a strong sense of abandonment.

She remembered the sense of rightness being in Ryodan's arms until she remembered the look of confusion and disgust on his face. She made herself remember her deep sense of mortification and embarrassment when he told her to stay away from him. She was furious at herself for acting like a loved starved puppy when he kissed. He wanted to prove to her that he could make her desire him anytime he wanted, and with so little effort on his part, he had done just that. She had easily fallen for his game without so much as a whisper of resistance, and that really filled her with shame.

Finally, around four in the morning, she fell asleep, but even in her dreams. Thoughts of Ryodan tormented her. She dreamed of making love with him in his big bed in a dark underground bedroom. He called out her name and whispered how much he loved her. Oh yes, they both knew he was going to abandon her soon for another woman whom he loved and lost a long time ago.

In her dream, Leni didn't want to hear Ryodan say those words. If she had been just someone he merely cared for, she could have accepted the fact he was leaving her to go to a woman he actually loved. She wanted him to be happy. Knowing that he loved the other woman, made losing him seem bearable, but Knowing that Ryodan loved her, and still would leave her, was inconceivable. it broke her.

She loved Ryodan with all her heart, and he knew it. He was everything she wanted. He was a part of her very being, but did not feel the same. His declaration of love came too late in their relationship. Instead of filling her with joy, it filled her with an aching sadness. It broke her heart; she didn't know if she would ever recover.

The next morning, Bridget drove Leni went to see her dress designer, Kay Bailey. The designer, an up and coming young woman, who was trying to make a name for herself in the fashion industry, was designing Bridget's wedding dress and those of all her attendants. Although given very short notice, the dress was partially finished, and Bridget sat for the first fitting.

The dress was a lovely off the shoulder, ivory peau de sois creation with seed pearls sown into the bodice and skirt. The bodice hugged Bridget's shapely body and flared into a wide full skirt. It was the most stunning wedding dress that Leni had ever seen. When Bridget put it on, Leni took in an audible breath. The dress reminded her of a beautiful ball gown worn by women during the nineteenth century, and Bridget looked like a queen in it. It cost a fortune, and Leni loved it.

"Oh Bridey, you look so beautiful! You look like a fairy princess just like Gran always said." Bridget's cheeks pinked at the praise from her cousin.

After trying on her gown, Bridget asked Miss Bailey to bring out the dress she had selected for Leni, and her bridesmaids, and Leni tried it on. It was a simple, but elegant green china silk sheath trimmed in a lighter shade of green. A softly draped neckline showed off the bounty of her cleavage and her graceful long neck. Thin spaghetti straps emphasized her well rounded shoulders and upper arms toned by hours at the gym. The bodice ended at a tight waistline. The full length skirt was formfitting, but had a fan of pleats extending from the knee to the hem in back. An elegant boxy bow in the same trim as the bodice sat just above the pleats. The material was soft and shiny; it hung attractively as she moved.

Leni adored the dress until she saw the price tag. She did a quick mental calculation. The dress cost about $5,000; that was almost as much as Leni made in a month working as a nurse. The idea of paying that much for a dress horrified her.

"That's too much, Bridget. It's too expensive for a dress I will never wear again. Can't I wear something cheaper?" she exclaimed.

"But Munchkin, this is what all my attendants are going to wear, and anyway, I am paying for it." Bridget argued with her cousin.

Leni was insistent. "The other two girls are models like you. $5,000 is nothing to them, but it is to me. Like I said, I will never wear it again; frankly, I would be afraid to do so. I know you can afford it, but paying that kind of money is really such a waste. There has to be something else that will do, but is much cheaper."

After several minutes, Bridget realized Leni was not going to give in, so she asked Miss Bailey to show Leni something else. With a moue of displeasure that darkened her stern visage, Miss Bailey pulled out a dress that cost only $2,000. "I cannot do anything cheaper than this," she sniffed and glared at Leni with a disappointed frown.

The second dress was a lighter green that matched the trim on the bridesmaids' dresses. It also was a full length sheath. The skirt had a slit up the front to the knees making it easy to walk in elegant high heels. One shoulder was covered under a thin one inch strap; the other was totally bare. Leni's beautiful arms and shoulders would still be shown to their best advantage in this dress too. The dress was plainer, but made of the same material as the first. Leni liked it almost as much.

Bridget and Leni looked at each other and smiled. "We'll take it," they both said at the same time.

That afternoon, Leni, Bridget met Sean at their Uncle Mary's pub. Leni had agreed to sing that night and the following night, but only if Bridget and Sean performed too. Bridget had a pleasing soprano voice and could play the piano. Sean played piano and most string instruments as did Leni.

Leni had reasons for inviting her cousins to perform with her. They were both exceptionally good singers and musicians, and Sean had asked her to allow him to play with her. He was trying to impress a couple of girls he met at school.. Being the good cousin she was. Leni was more than happy to help him out. It wouldn't be the first time they performed together: when she visited during the summer, Bridget sometimes accompanied Leni on her weekend gigs and sang backup with Vixen. Last summer, Sean had done the same and played the guitar, dobro and banjo.

Sean loved music off all kinds, but he really liked the hard beating rhythms of old rock songs that Leni liked. Although he would not admit to his sophisticated college friends, he liked American Country music almost as much as Leni and Uncle Martin. The lead guitarist of her uncle's band was a big fan of older rock and roll groups like the Holly's and Credence Clearwater and had taught him those songs. Since the age of seventeen, Sean sometimes performed on weekends with Uncle Marty and his band just for fun.

At eight o'clock that night, Tegan and Bridget were sitting alone at a four top table talking about the wedding. Leni was sitting with Sean and a group of his friends, both male and female, at a table nearby. One of the guys at the table, Denny, a small wiry blonde of about twenty five decided to teach Leni to play pool.

Leni demurred, but Denny insisted. With a resigned smile on her face, she agreed and for two games, she barely hit a ball at all. After Leni scratched the eight ball several times and held her cue stick as if it were about to bite her, she managed to nudge three balls into the side pocket. Denny wanted to play a third game. Again Leni demurred. This time Denny not only insisted, he bet ten pounds against a kiss that he would beat her. Denny was in a good mood, so he let her go first. Leni cleared the table in less than a minute, and Denny looked stunned.

For the next hour, Leni played pool with four other guys, two more college kids, and two obviously blue collar types. All of them were sure they could beat the little blonde, and all of them made the same bet: ten pounds against a kiss. Leni beat them all; she cleaned their clocks. At the end of the hour, she was more than sixty pounds richer than when she walked into the pub.

Leni walked back to Sean's table and ordered a round. Fanning the notes in her hand, Before she sat down, Leni turned to Bridget, who had been watching the whole thing with a grin on her face. "Did you learn anything tonight, Munchkin?" Bridget asked her American cousin. She knew Leni was really, really good at playing pool, but she also knew that Leni didn't show off her skill, unless she thought someone was trying to take advantage of her.

"Oh, yes I did, Bridey. I learned Irish guys are easy." Leni laughed delightedly as she turned back to the table and sat down. There were two untouched shots of whiskey in front of her seat. She grabbed one, chugged it down and slammed the glass on the table. Leni wasn't much of a drinker, but the guys had bought her the whiskey to celebrate her victories at the pool table, and she was gracious enough to accept their gesture.

The liquor burned her throat, and she coughed. Denny reached over and slapped her on the back, and the guys at the table laughed uproariously. At the same time, a tingling awareness made Leni turnaround. "Oops!" she said just before her heart froze in her chest for a second. She felt a blush starting to redden her cheeks.

Ryodan, Lor and Angus and three women were walking toward the table where Tegan sat with Bridget. They were less than ten feet away, and they were all staring at her. Leni was sure they had heard her too. Ryodan's unusual dark eyes were angry tonight; they bored into her with a look of strong disapproval. His lips were tightened into a frown, as if he was judging her and found her wanting.

Who the hell do you think you are? She thought as she raised her chin in defiance. She narrowed her eyes, held his gaze and dared him to say something to her.

What the hell is he doing here and with a date, no less? What is he trying to prove? She asked herself silently. Ryodan knew she was going to sing here tonight. Bridget had told him so last night. After this morning, she didn't think she was going to see him again until the wedding.

All three of the huge, dark handsome men were escorting gorgeous women, so Tegan and Bridget pulled two tables together and moved the chairs around. The three men and their dates sat down with Bridget and Tegan at the end closest to Leni, Sean and his friends.

Ryodan's date was a thirtyish tall brunette with long, wavy, deep mahogany brown hair and grayish green eyes. Leni recognized the woman: she was Deidre Mills. She worked for the BBC and was a reporter on one of Dublin's most noted news broadcasts. Leni watched the program every morning; she didn't think the woman was particularly good at her job.

Deidre Mills was glamorous in a way that Leni knew she could never be. She was stunningly beautiful and sophisticated. Her hair and makeup were flawless. A brilliant, but brittle smile was pasted on wide full lips that were painted Fire Engine Red to match her long manicured nails. She was wearing an expensive sexy red designer dress, a short faux fur jacket and five inch stiletto heel. Her neck and ears dripped with diamonds. Another diamond on her right hand looked large enough to choke a horse.

She was exactly the type of woman Ryodan liked to show off, and to bed, but she not the kind of woman who normally spent time in a place like Marty's Pub. The working class pub generally catered to the middle class, blue collar types and tourists. It was neither posh enough, nor decadent enough for a social climber like Deidrer; it was too low class for her. She was an ambitious woman determined to on the move up the ladder and was definitely more the Chester's type.

Leni looked down at her own clothing and found it lacking. She had on the type of clothing that millions of women her age wore to a bar. She wore a pair of low rider jeans, that fit snugly around her hips and thighs, showing off her high, firm butt and long legs (long for a petite woman, anyway) off to an advantage. Black high heeled leather boots encased her feet and trim calves.

A rose pink, v-neck short sleeved top ended a few inches above her navel. Her jeans and top left an expanse of soft creamy white skin exposed, showing a small unicorn tattoo to the left and just a little above of her "innie" belly button. She had gotten the tattoo on a dare with Bridget last summer. Her only jewelry was the simple gold loops in her ears and her gold Fae cuff. There was no way she could compete with the beautiful woman Ryodan had on his arm, so she brushed away the feelings of jealousy and inadequacy and laughed at a joke Denny just told.

A few minutes later, Leni, Bridget and Sean took to the stage with Uncle Marty and his band. The band started off with some rock songs from the sixties and seventies and a few Johnny Cash songs. At first, Bridget was playing the piano and Leni an electric guitar and Sean a dobro. All three were singing back up to the lead singer, Jay.

Bridget was sedate and cool as always, but music always became part of Leni. She felt it in her blood; she could not hold still if she wanted to when she performed. She danced, jumped, wiggled her butt and undulated her hips to the beat of the music as she played. So did Sean and the other players. Ryodan didn't like that one bit.

"Saturday night I was downtown working for the FBI. Sitting in a nest of bad men. Whiskey bottles piling high." Jay, started rocking out to "Tall Cool Woman in a Black Dress" an old Hollies tune. His voice was perfect for the rock and roll song. The audience started stamping their feet with the music.

Since Bridget was dressed in a slinky short black dress, Leni put down her guitar, grabbed the tall blonde and started dancing a jitterbug with a lot of extra pelvis action. As Leni swung and twirled with her cousin around, Bridget let loose and got into it. With her long blonde hair flying, she turned, moved and swung and undulated with the guitars and drums. The girls looked sexy; the crowd went wild. The men, especially the college boys in the crowd, started clapping in time with the music and whistling.

For the first half hour of the set, Tegan sat and watched Bridget, Leni and Sean as they performed. All three had had exceptional dancing and musical talents which were only enhanced by their Fae heritage. Bridget was tall, cool and radiated with beauty as she played and sang. The smaller Leni was irrepressible, a ball of fire on stage, but Sean was the only one who radiated Fae in Tegan's mind.

Spending as much time around them as he did, Tegan knew that the two girls both possessed a certain amount of Fae magic, but Sean was of particular interest to him. He strongly doubted that either Bridget or Sean knew of their Fae blood. From the Fae cuff on her arm, he was sure that Leni did; still, he considered all three innocent of any guilt.

Of all the Draghar, only Tegan knew that the three cousins had Fae blood in their veins. He had suspected as much the night he met Bridget; his suspicions were confirmed the moment he met her brother, Sean. The boy was the human image of Danal, a Fae prince Tegan had met more than three thousand years before.

Sean had the Fae beauty of Danal, but he was not aware of the powerful magic that he had within him. If Tegan was right, he soon would be. It was that was not at all unusual that a human/Fae child did not realize their magical potential until they matured. When fully mature, Sean would be a force to be reckoned with; because of his Fae blood, he would be much more powerful than any MacKeltar druid, but less powerful than a Draghar. His was a power that needed to be trained and guided, or it could become dangerous and deadly if misused. Although Sean barely tolerated him now, Tegan hoped one day he would be the one to teach Sean how to use his magic.

There was no question that Danal was an ancestor to the three cousins. Three thousand years ago, Danal was the husband of Rhianna's first cousin, Lyrra, who died in childbirth. Danal loved his human wife and stayed with her; he did not abandon her after seducing her like most Fae males did. Tegan considered Danal a good man. A thousand years later, Danal was married again to a woman named Alanna; they were soul mates like he and Rhianna; Ryodan suspected that she was the first for Danal. Alanna was pregnant when she died too, but Tegan did not know how.

How far back Danal was in their ancestry, he didn't know, but he guessed he was a grandfather or great grandfather. Tegan had met both of Bridget's parents, and neither one showed any evidence of Fae blood nor of Fae magic. That wasn't unusual since the genes often skipped generations. After meeting Leni, Tegan knew that the Fae genes were definitely on the maternal side of the family. He began to ask questions about Catriona O'Gallagher, Bridget's maternal grandmother.

Although Draghar and Fae had been enemies for millennia, it did not matter to Tegan that Bridget was part Fae; she was his soul mate. He loved her more than he loved his own life. Unlike the other Draghar, he did not automatically hate the Fae, because he had known many good ones like Danal.

After Ryodan's wife, Zayida, and the others were hunted down and raped by Unseelie nobles and after the Unseelie King slaughtered them along with other Draghar males and their half Draghar children, Tegan fought alongside the remaining Draghar warriors. With them, he hunted the Unseelie abominations and meted out a justice that was swift and unmerciful. With them, he searched for the Unseelie King, but the monster who betrayed them had hidden somewhere within the Faery realm and could not be found.

Later, when the remaining nine Draghar males hunted down, raped and murdered the wives and children of many Seelie princes and nobles, Tegan was the only one who did not participate in that savagery. He had enough lives on his conscience. Like other Draghar warriors, he warred in the name of his king, the same king who became the Unseelie King.

He had raped and murdered both human and Fae women as a warning to their king's enemies, but after he met Rhianna. He never touched another human or Fae woman in anger. Although he fought fiercely in many battles since and would willingly do so in the future, he never again needlessly slaughtered another. His soul mate, Rhianna, then later, Mhairi and Breanna, had taught him love; they taught him to value human life. To become the soulless monster that he once was would disgrace their memories.

Unlike his fellow Draghar warriors, Tegan did not blame the Seelie Fae for what happened. Even though Seelie participated in the Wild Hunt for thousands of years, that time it was the Unseelie monsters who hunted and raped their women, not Seelie. The Unseelie monsters had been created by the Unseelie King. The Draghar alone were responsible for the Unseelie King; he was their king first, and he was Draghar like them.

The others did not agree with Tegan, so he kept the Bridget's Fae heritage from them; the fact that she had any trace of Fae blood was enough to condemn her in their eyes. More than likely they would have found a reason to kill her. If they suspected his deceit, they would have considered him a traitor and killed him too.

It wasn't hard to keep his secret though, he suspected that Danal had devised an unusually strong Fae spell to keep the Draghar from sensing his grandchildren's magic and non-human blood. Once he met Bridget, he added his own magic spell to Danal's. He did the same with Sean and Leni.

Now he sat and watched Bridget dance with her cousin. She was beautiful and graceful, and he was proud of her. He started to rise to dance with her. Thinking that Tegan was going to start a fight with one of the boisterous men surrounding the stage, clapping, stamping and whistling at Bridget and Leni, Ryodan put his hand on Tegan's arm. The big Draghar gently brushed it off and walked up to the stage.

The human males naturally got out of Tegan's way as he passed; they could sense the raw power of the big man, even if they didn't know exactly why. Leni saw Tegan coming toward her and Bridget. He winked at her, and she nodded back. Twirling Bridget around one more time, Leni swung her cousin into Tegan's arms and stepped back as the two danced.

Tegan was the largest of the Draghar males, but he moved his huge body with a grace that any ballet dancer would envy. The band replayed the song, but with a harder, more primitive beat. Bridget and Tegan could not have had better dance partners. Where Tegan moved, Bridget effortlessly followed. Their bodies instinctively moved in sync with one another.

Tegan turned Bridget so her back was to him. While their hips swayed erotically together, she slowly moved her left arm up around his neck. He gently ran his fingertips down the side of her arm, under her breast to her right hand. Grasping her hand and whirling her under his arm to face him, he brought her body up against his. His left arm supported her body while he arched her into a deep dip. In his arms her seemingly boneless spine rose and fell gracefully to the beat of the music. With her body in a perfect dancer's arch, Bridget's long pale blonde hair flared out behind her.

Pulling her up against him, Tegan put one big thigh between her legs and one hand on her hip and swayed with her. They danced close, but their bodies never touched. Their dance was sensual, but not lewd, erotic but not lascivious. It was a dance of two people who loved each other, and it was one of the most sensual things Leni had ever seen; she hadn't expected that Bridget would ever dance so freely and intimately with a man in public. She felt a small thrill, and she understood what Tegan was doing: with his movements, he was claiming Bridget. He was telling the other men in the pub to stay away from her, and Bridget did the same with her dance.

When the song finished, the band started playing the much slower "All I Need Is the Air That I Breathe." Tegan pulled Bridget close to him and began a slow dance. The two stared deeply into each others eyes as they danced. Leni was hypnotized by the aura that surrounded the two; it seemed magical. Others too stared.

By this time, Sean came to stand beside Leni to watch his sister and Tegan dance. "Did you believe Gran when she told us about soul mates, Leni? You know there is something about Tegan that makes my hair stand on end. Bridey said they were soul mates, and I didn't believe her, but look at them. They are meant to be together, aren't they? Have you ever seen two people as much in love?" The nineteen year old boy asked his older cousin; he seemed amazed at that discovery.

"Only once. Only once." Leni acknowledged. She was thinking about Gran and Danal in the kitchen. Bridget and Tegan had that same look; the look of two souls that loved and recognized each other. The love that shown between was palpable like a living breathing thing. "I believe they are soul mates. I want to be loved like that." she whispered. Sean nodded in agreement. "I do too," he said.

"Wow, Beanpole. You're finally growing up." she said as a rush of affection for Sean rose in her heart. She and Bridget were like twins, but her love for Sean was no less. She reached up and tousled his chocolate brown hair.

Sean felt the same rush of affection, but being a young male, he was a little embarrassed by it. Grabbing Leni around the waist, he lifted her up as he hugged her tightly against his side and gave her a soft rub on the head with his knuckles. The music changed again to another fast song. Sean grabbed Leni's hand and whirled her onto the dance floor. "Come on cousin. Let's show these lads how to dance."

Leni had shown Sean how to dance about five years before when he wanted to impress a girl in his class he wanted to date. He wanted to learn the jitterbug, the two step, the waltz and the fox trot. These were the kinds of dances most young teenage boys wouldn't be caught dead doing, but Sean wanted to appear more sophisticated and worldly. He had asked Bridget, but she had no time for her younger brother whom she considered a big pest at that time. Leni was a great dancer and she took pity on the love struck adolescent. With his natural grace, Sean had been an able student, and the task had been fun. The gorgeous, nineteen year old boy dancing with her now was even better than before. She knew they made a great team: the college girls at his table and the twenty something women in the pub were eyeing Sean as if he was a big hunk of milk chocolate, and they were all ready to take a big bite out of him.

At the Draghar table, Ryodan watched at Leni as she sang and moved on the stage. Her movements were really no different than any good performer, but he hated the way she danced and strutted her stuff. It made him uncomfortable; he squirmed in his seat. He hated the way her bare skin showed between the bottom of her blouse and the top of her low rider jeans. He hated the way her jeans hugged her hips; her butt looked so high and softly rounded and completely touchable.

Her stomach was flat, and the little unicorn tattooed on her abdomen moved as she danced; it was just begging to be kissed. Thoughts of his teeth and tongue licking and nipping the delicate skin around her navel until she cried out made him sigh deep in his throat. He could feel his body becoming very aroused and shifted his position to hide it. He didn't like that either.

He got angry and frustrated. The way he felt about Leni confused him. He wanted her kiss her senseless one minute and absolutely strangle her the next. He was more attracted to her than the beautiful woman at his side. She made him feel things he knew he shouldn't feel. He tried everything he could to find fault with the little blonde to break the attraction he felt.

He told himself that she was dancing in a way that no decent woman would. He worked hard to convince himself that Leni was acting like a little slut, and it outraged him. He wanted to make her stop. It took every ounce of will power he could muster to stay in his seat. He wanted to go up and drag her off the stage and shake some sense into her before she got raped.

Even more, he wanted to smash and crush every male who looked at her, including her cousin, Sean. His hands fisted in anticipation of how good it would feel to connect with their leering faces and bash them to a pulpy mess. If Leni had danced with any man the way Bridget was dancing with Tegan, he knew would have killed the guy.

He heard Leni and Sean talking. He hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but his keen hearing easily picked up their conversation. He was envious of the clear love and affection between the two cousins. They were more than cousins, that much was apparent; they were friends in a way he never had been with a woman. He resented the easy way they treated each other; that made him just as jealous as knowing other men were thinking lewd thoughts of her. He didn't like the way Leni and Sean danced together; they were so good together; clearly they had done this many times before.

Ryodan cursed himself for coming here tonight; it was a foolish thing to do. He told himself he was going to stay far away from Leni, and hoped she stayed away from him. Even so, when Lor and Angus said they were joining Tegan to hear her sing tonight, he invited himself along. After what happened when he took her home this monring, he didn't want Leni to think he actually wanted to see her again, so he grabbed the first hot looking woman he saw and brought her along as his date. He was determined that Leni knew that he wasn't wasting anytime thinking about her.

His eyes found her the minute he walked into the door. He saw her laughing and talking to small wiry blonde male of about twenty five in the back near the pool tables. The two of them walked back to a table with Bridget's brother, Sean and several college kids sat. The guy had his hand on Leni's arm. Evidently, she wasn't wasting any time thinking about him either. That really pissed him off.

Instantly, a rush of jealousy and a strong urge to smash the human male's face in made his fists tingle. When he had told Leni to stay away from him last night, he meant it. Now, after seeing her laughing and enjoying herself with another man, he wasn't so sure. When Leni made the remark about Irishmen being easy, his mood changed again, and he got angry all over again. He decided he was right after all.

He kept feeling that way right up until the time Leni did her first solo at the end of the set. This time, she didn't dance. She stood very still using her arms and hands for emphasis. The patrons of the bar, both men and women, stilled at the change in tempo,

"_I can feel you watching._

_I can feel your eyes on me._

_I can hear you whisper, and I just get so weak._

_But, I'm a little bit scared. It's been a long time_

_since I let my guard down and let someone inside. _

_You don't need to wonder, 'cause tonight you'll get it all. _

_When the night closes in, I'm gonna pull you so close._

_Hold you so tight, gonna let it all go._

_And you can do what you want._

_You can take me right here._

_'Cause I knew from the start,_

_I was gonna love you with all my heart._

_Take my hand now, and I'm ready to begin. _

_Though it makes me crazy when your fingers touch my skin._

_And I know what you want, and you know what I need._

_There's no reason to pretend that we don't know what this means..._

Leni sang the song slowly with emotion. Her violet eyes were half closed as if she were secretly talking to her lover. Her strong, lovely alto voice soared then lowered almost to a whisper, but through it all, she viscerally connected with the audience. The crowd hushed as more men and women moved to the stage to watch and listen. It was more than a love song; it was a song of surrender. The crowd around the stage seemed enraptured with the words of the tender love song. Each woman seemed to imagine herself singing to her lover. Each man seemed to imagine his lover singing to him.

As Leni sang, she reached out in front of her. A vision of Ryodan inexplicably appeared in her mind. He was embracing her, kissing her, his hands caressing her,. She could not stop herself; she opened her eyes and stared directly at Ryodan. He was watching her too; his dark eyes were intent and luminous. His eyes called to her; they lured her. He was the only person she saw in the room; everyone and everything else faded away. He seemed to be surrounded by a golden aura. She was mesmerized by what she saw.

Ryodan's eyes were deep and mysterious. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. She felt liquid heat build within her inner core, yet she she trembled as icy thrill raced up her spine. Their eyes held for long moments before she was able to look away, trembling as she did so. For a split second her legs felt as if they were not capable of holding her upright. She felt a bead of sweat on her brow; for a minute, she could not breathe. She was filled with confusion at the intensity of what she felt.

A strangely erotic ennui came over Ryodan; his chest tightened and he could feel his heart pounding rapidly. Unaware of what he was doing, he began to cast to Leni sending his pheromones toward her, luring her like a Draghar female. When it happened the night before at Chester's, he hadn't realized what he was doing then either.

As Ryodan exuded his pheromones, the others at the table became uncomfortable. The three human females had no idea of what was happening, or why they were so fidgety and nervous, but Tegan, Lor and Angus knew exactly what was happening. The scent of Ryodan's pheromones was at a level so low that the human sense of smell could never detect them, but the Draghar males easily could. They were keenly aware that the scent of Ryodan's pheromones could set them off as well. Four Draghar males casting in such close quarters could become a deadly affair.

Tegan suggested the women go to the ladies room and freshen up; they jumped at the chance to get away from the table. He grabbed Ryodan's arm and shook it. "Ry, what are you doing? You are casting again; you just can't seem to help yourself when Leni's around; can you?." he said harshly.

"What... what... I..." Ryodan's mind came back to the present. He realized what he was doing and clamped down on himself hard.

Lor and Angus stared at him; they were just as angry as Tegan. The consequences of Ryodan's unconscious act could have meant trouble for them all.

"He almost shifted at the airport, Te. That human girl is making him crazy. She is dangerous. Why don't you fuck her and just get it over with before you out us all, Ry?" Angus snarled.

"You're casting a human female? We don't have to do that; they come to us on their own. Angus is right: just fuck her and get her out of your system." Lor added.

"Nobody is fucking anybody unless she agrees to it." Tegan growled.

"It's none of your damn business, Te. I told you that last night." Ryodan growled back.

"She's Bridget's cousin, and that makes it my business. I told you last night to leave Leni alone, Ry, but it's clear she gets to you in a way I have never seen a human woman get to you before. I can see she feels something for you, too. She's family now, and under my protection. If you really care about her, and she decides she wants you, I won't interfere, but you better treat her with respect, and flaunting one of your whores in her face is not the way to do it. I already warned you. I won't let you hurt her, and I mean it." Tegan said.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Te. In fact, I don't intend to ever see her again." Ryodan replied as the women came back to the table. He asked Deidre to dance; the two moved to the dance floor,and Ryodan was all over her. After the dance, he moved the two of them to a smaller booth along the back wall and began to grope her in a very pubic display.

Deidre openly responded to him; she had no problems groping and kissing a man in public. She had canoodled publicly with many men, and she liked the attention it got her in the scandal sheets. She felt it raised her desirability in her profession.

She had wanted to capture Ryodan's attention for a long time, but he seemed too busy to notice her. Besides, Moira always seemed to be around. The word around Chester's was that Moira was history, so maybe she had a chance now. Laughing seductively and batting her long mascaraed eyelashes at him, she coyly asked him if he wanted to go to her apartment for a nightcap.

Ryodan stood up and put Deidre's jacket around her shoulders. He walked toward the door with his tongue stuck down her throat, kissing her deeply. His large left hand was visibly thrust down the front of her low cut dress. He was feeling her up in front of everyone, but Deidre only gave a sultry laugh. There was no mistaking their intentions, and Ryodan wanted Leni to see. He planned to fuck Deidre or someone else like her tonight and every night until he forgot all about her.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When the band stopped singing, Leni did not want to see or talk to Ryodan. Bridget started back to Tegan's table, but Leni stopped her. "You go on back. I'm going to hang out here with Sean and the others for a while. I'll join you after the next set."

Leni was confused and alarmed by the strong emotions that consumed her while Ryodan watched her. She had no doubt that despite how he acted this morning after he kissed her, he was still very much drawn to her, and not just sexually. The trouble was that she was just as drawn to him, but she was she was still deeply hurt and humiliated by his words and actions. Her mind kept telling at her that she just couldn't trust him. Her heart kept telling her that, even if she could trust him, there was still the dream to consider.

In her life, many times dreams like that often presaged actual events. She had similar dreams about Philip. She ignored them and paid the price in heartache and pain. Was the dream about Ryodan a warning? She didn't know, but if it was, she was going to try and change the future. She wasn't going to let herself fall in love with a man who would leave her for someone else. Besides, Ryodan clearly had no respect for her, and that only hardened her resolve.

She watched Ryodan and Deidre on the dance floor and later in the booth. The way he pawed the brunette disgusted her. She was no prude and really enjoyed sex, but she was never one given to casual hookups or one night stands. She had to care about a man before she made love with him, and she would not allow herself to be groped like that in public. Kissing was one thing, but pawing was quite another, and Ryodan looked like he was digging for gold down the front of Deidre's low cut dress.

She didn't understand women who allowed that, and often took a lot of flak from her peers in school. Gran had taught her the idea that a woman should always respect herself, no matter how much she liked the guy. She said a man will get away with only what you let him. Gran always said there was a time and a place for everything, and this was neither the time, nor the place.

Anger at Ryodan and his disgusting behavior filled her; he was a pig, just as she thought him to be on the plane. Still, Leni felt the tentacles of jealousy score through her gut; the feeling was hot and burned like acid. That was an emotion, she wasn't familiar with, and that troubled her a lot. She was jealous of Deidre as she had never been jealous of a woman before; it just wasn't her nature.

Although not as beautiful as her as her graceful and regal cousin, Leni never had any problem attracting guys. She never wanted for dates. As handsome and charming as Philip was, the way other women sidled up to him, or looked at him with desire plain on their faces, did not evoke jealousy because she was confident that he loved and wanted only her. Of course, she had been sorely proven wrong, but that was neither here nor there. As Leni talked with the band, she reasoned that what Ryodan had done this morning, and what he was doing now, was actually a good thing: it gave her the perfect reason to stay away from him.

For the next eight days, Leni stayed away from Ryodan; she never went back to his nightclub, Chester's. He tried to stay from her, but on two nights, he went to Marty's Pub because he knew she would be there. The first time on the following Monday night, he sat at the bar alone watching her until Tegan asked Ry to join him at a small booth in the back. Leni and Bridget were sitting with Sean and his friends up front hear the empty stage.

The group of ten, including Sean, Denny, three other guys and three girls, laughed and joked together and had a good time the way only college age kids could. They drank a little, but not too much. They were exuberant, playful and noisy. They played darts and pool and danced to the music played over Uncle Marty's elaborate sound system. Leni never looked at Ryodan once, but she did not seem to have any preference for any of the guys, including Denny. That pleased Ryodan; still, he felt jealousy sear his mind. It wasn't simple jealousy over a woman he wanted that got to the big man now; it was longing and a curious ache around his shifted human heart.

Ryodan and Tegan sat enjoying a brandy watching the group. Tegan did not seem to care that Bridget was enjoying herself with other guys. That fact, really made Ryodan curious. Draghar males were unusually jealous and protective of their females.

Tegan observed his friend with a mix of pity and amusement on his big face. "She gets to you, doesn't she?" he said.

Ryodan did not have to ask who he meant.

"You are behaving with Leni exactly the same way I did with Rhianna when I first met her. I never met a woman like her. She had me so tied up in knots; I didn't know if I was coming or going." Tegan continued.

Ryodan said nothing.

"Rhianna had me so confused; she made me crazy for weeks. I casted her too, by the way. I didn't realize I was doing it; I just couldn't help myself. I almost shifted to our natural form twice, but the Druids knew what we were and worshiped us, so, even if I did, it would not have frightened her the way it would frighten women today. I think it is just how our soul mates affect us. They bring out the primal beast in us," he laughed.

"It wasn't until I realized how much I loved her, that I recognized what Rhianna was. She told me that she loved me, and that we were soul mates. We Draghar don't have the concept of soul mates. Hell, we don't even have the concept of love, but these human bodies we take do. The instant Rhianna said the words, "soul mates," I knew that it was true. She didn't have to explain, I just knew."

"Why are you telling me this, Te?"

"Because I believe the same thing is happening to you. I believe that you love Leni, and something inside you recognizes her as your soul mate. I believe she recognizes it too, but you are both fighting it, but it's getting harder for you to deny it, isn't it? You know what; I think Leni is a sidhe seer."

Every Draghar knew the only sidhe seers left alive lived in the monastery about two hours outside of the city. Tegan was crazy, Ryodan was sure of that. He sneered. "So you think Leni is a sidhe seer? Tell me is your "soul mate" a sidhe seer too.?"

"Yes, have you seen the bodyguards Rocky O'Bannion surrounds himself with these days. They are Unseelie lower cast. You know, the ones who bodies are deformed, and who have snouts like a rhino. Two weeks ago, O'Bannion and his guards walked into a restaurant where Bridget and I were dining. She saw through the Fae glamour and almost screamed, but I used a cloaking spell to hide us from them. I had a hard time calming her down, and an even harder time explaining to her what she saw."

"I am not surprised that she is sidhe seer because she is my soul mate. I have informed Zigor of this. He was surprised to find out there was a sidhe seer outside of the monastery. He thinks it's possible that there may be more out there that Rowena does not know about." Tegan explained.

Ryodan was stunned to hear about Bridget, but his heart knew what Tegan said about him and Leni could not be true. He would not, could not, betray Zayida by falling in love with another woman.

He fiercely cried out in denial. "I admit I have a powerful lust for her, but I am not in love with Leni Hammond. I loved Zayida; I still love her. I want to be with her again, and I want to see her to give birth to my son. I want them both to live again, and I will do whatever it takes to bring them back. I will not allow my lust for any human woman to get in my way, no how beautiful she is. I am not in love with that little ….." He couldn't bring himself to finish, he was so caught up in the ridiculousness of Te's words.

"Zayida was my soul mate. I love her so much; I can't forget her. I have been lost without her all this time." The words came out in an agonized whisper from Ryodan's mouth.

Tegan sat and watched his friend with a sorrowful look on his face. He understood Ryodan's pain. "If Leni is your soul mate, Ry, you will not be able to deny it. I know you loved Zayida. She was a good woman, but I am convinced she was not your soul mate."

"How can you know that, Te? You don't understand how I loved her. I would have died for her. I wish I had died instead of her."

"Did Zayida ask you to marry her in a Druid ceremony? Did she ask you to exchange the binding marriage vows with her?"

Ryodan nodded his head yes.

"But you never did say the vows with her, did you?"

Ryodan said nothing, but his eyes looked haunted and bleak.

"I thought not. I know that you loved her, but if Zayida was your true soul mate, once you heard those words, you would have said them to her. You could not have stopped yourself, even if you wanted to. No power on this earth could have stopped you." Tegan said.

"But I remember every minute I shared with her as if it were yesterday. This existence is hell without her. I loved my unborn son, too. I miss them both so much it kills me sometimes, even now. If she was not my soul mate, how is that possible?" Ryodan exploded in anger.

"We are immortal, Ry, and human existence is so fleeting. These human hearts we have are capable of loving many times. It would truly be an unbearable existence without love. You are lonely and you suffer because you don't allow yourself to love,. You surround yourself with whores like Moira and Deidre to slake your carnal needs, but it is not enough, and you know it. I knew Zayida, and I know she never would have wanted this kind of existence for you. She loved you too much for that. She would have wanted you to be happy and to love again." Tegan replied softly.

He continued. "I loved all of the human women I have shared my life with through the years. How could I not for they were all good women, but the love was never as deep as the love I had for Rhianna, then Mhairi and Breanna and now for Bridget. The other women I loved were never part of me; they were never part of my soul."

"Don't misunderstand me; I never confused either Mhairi or Breanna for Rhianna. They were not clones of Rhianna. They were all different women entirely in appearance, personality, likes and dislikes. It was a pleasure to discover all they were, but they all had the same spirit and the same soul."

"Unlike Rhianna, Mhair, Breanna and Bridget all recognized me instantly as their soul mate and loved me. It was the same for me. My soul called to them as theirs called to me. Only with Rhianna did it take time to figure out who she was. Like you I fought against it because I did not understand it. I did not want it. II had fight our Draghar nature to recognize it, but once I did, I never turned back. This time with Bridget, somehow the feeling is even deeper than with the other three. I love her so much more than the other three. I don't know why, but I do."

"No, you're wrong. I don't believe in soul mates, and I don't love Leni Hammond; I love Zayida. I may want Leni, but I will never want her the way I want Zayida." Ryodan snarled at Tegan. He threw some money on the table and got up and left the bar.

"Deny it if you wish, my friend, but it is true. I hope you don't find that out when it is too late." Tegan sighed as watched Ryodan leave.

Leni watched Ryodan leave with mixed feelings. _Why can't he just stay away? _She thought.

On Friday night, Ryodan showed up again with Deidre just as Leni and the band took to the stage; they walked to the back and sat down with Bridget and Tegan.. She did not have to see him arrive: all of her senses were instantly aware of him the minute he walked in the door. A strong burst of jealousy shot through her as she saw Deidre Hills clinging to his arm; the jealousy stayed with her all night and ate at her.

Leni's heart constricted in her chest, then began to flutter wildly. She flushed and had to take several deep cleansing breaths to make her stomach unclench. She could feel him watching her, but she made a conscious effort to ignore him, but she could not stop herself from peeking at him from under her eyelashes from time to time. Deidre sat next to Ryodan with an unhappy look on her face. Her eyes bored holes into Leni.

Leni performed several songs with the band, followed by a few of her own songs and finally a mix of country songs by Reba McIntire, Sara Evans, Vince Gill and others. Sean played the guitar again; he seemed very happy to be there.

Once the first set ended, Leni went to the Ladies Room. She was hot and sweaty and needed to pee badly. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Moira inside arguing with Deidre. Neither woman noticed her arrival.

"You're a damned fool if you think you can keep Ryodan, Deidre. Are you too stupid to see that he wants that little blonde bitch? He's been staring at her all night. He's getting ready to dump you for her; I know him. He'll use her just like he is using you and then dump her too. Once you're both out of the picture, he will come running back to me; he always does. That blonde bitch is no competition for me; she is going home in a week or so, but, even if she stayed, she wouldn't keep him either. Neither one of you understands a real man like Ryodan. Neither one of you can give him what he needs. I was with him for five years; I know what he needs."

"You're just jealous because Ryodan cares about me now, Moira, and not you. You will never have him again. In fact, I think Ryodan is in love with me. I think he is going to ask me to move in with him. Look what he gave me tonight." Deidre shot back with a bright, confident smile as she held up her arm. An expensive diamond tennis bracelet adorned her arm. It must have cost at least five thousand pounds.

"That trinket? What a fool you are. Ryodan must have bought at least a hundred of those things; he buys them by the gross; he gets them wholesale. He gives one to a woman when he is through with her. Usually he says that he's going to be busy for a few days, and that he will call, but he never does. The bracelet is payment for services rendered; you know, it's like paying a prostitute or a call girl. There must be hundreds of women wearing that exact same bracelet. Look around the next time you're in Chester's." The beautiful redhead snorted.

At that moment, two tall, lovely blondes came in the bathroom to stand in line behind the three of them. They were wearing exactly the same diamond bracelet that Deidre wore. "Ryodan?" Moira asked as she pointed to the girls' arms. They both laughed and nodded. Deidre looked sick.

"If you want to see some real jewelry look at this. Ryodan gave me all of these and more throughout the last five years." Moira pointed to her neck, ears, arms and hands. She was wearing expensive diamonds and sapphires, including a huge dinner ring. In total, the gems must have cost well over one hundred thousand pounds.

"That"s real love for you. You are no more than a passing fancy, Deidre. He'll come back to me when he's done using you." Moira snarled. Deidre's face collapsed; she was almost in tears.

A flashback to the night she was nearly killed in front of Chester's flared brightly in her memory. Leni remembered the look of pure malice on Moira's face as she watched the Peugeot bearing down on her. She remembered the hate in Moira's eyes as she and Ryodan passed her in his car after he offered to give her a ride home. Leni felt goose bumps crawl up her spine at the memory, and it wasn't pleasant.

During the past week, she had asked Bridget about the red head. What she learned confirmed her suspicion that Moira was spiteful and malevolent. She was so jealous of Ryodan, she was pathological. Bridget said many women often complained about the nasty tricks Moira used against them. She was willing to harm anyone who got in her way.

"Don't let her get to you, Deidre. There is nothing going on between Ryodan and me. Besides, you are right, Moira is just envious of you. You know, Moira; there's nothing more pathetic than a jealous woman who hangs on to a man who doesn't want her. Why don't you leave Deidre alone?" Leni asked; she felt a strong stirring of sympathy at the hurt on the brunette's face.

Both women whirled around, startled by her presence. "I don't need the likes of you to defend me, you little whore! I know you want him. You all do; I can tell, but Ryodan loves me!" Deidre shot out with hatred and anger in her eyes.

"You're right. She does want him, and Ry wants her, but not for long. He'll get what he wants and then dump her just like he will you. I am the only one who has lasted. He's mine!" Moira said in a nasty, mean voice just to twist the blade of doubt and jealousy a little deeper in Deidre's gut.

"Well, you two can fight over Ryodan all you want, just leave me out of it. I am so out of this snake pit after the wedding. You two can have him; I don't want him." Leni growled at them and walked into one of the stalls. All sympathy for Deidre evaporated into thin air. By the time she came out again, both women were gone.

After the last set, Leni walked back to Bridget's table to pick up her jacket and purse. Denny had asked her to go bowling and she agreed. She was going to meet him at his car outside.

"If you can wait, Te and I will take you home, Munchkin." Bridget said.

"Oh, don't bother. Denny wants to teach me how to bowl. He'll take me home later." Leni replied as she winked at her cousin. She made a fanning motion with her hands.

Bridget giggled. "That poor sucker. Leni, you should really tell him you already know how to bowl."

"Well let's not tell Denny, and I guarantee you that I will pay for lunch tomorrow." Leni giggled back and started to turn around.

"You're fucking that lowlife, Denny, aren't you? Why don't you admit to Ry that you're shagging that bog trotter?" The words came rushing out of Deidre's mouth. They were ugly and harsh, and they were unwarranted. Everyone at the table turned to stare at her.

Leni whirled around. "For your information, Denny is not a lowlife. He may not be as sophisticated as a stone cold whore like you, but he's a decent guy. He treats me with respect. He doesn't paw me in public, and I don't have to act like a bitch in heat to make him like me. Am I sleeping with him, well that just isn't anybody's else's business, is it?" Leni's hissed the words in a voice so cold it could have frosted the air.

Deidre jumped up with her arm pulled back; she was ready to slap Leni for the insult she just received. Quicker than anyone could imagine, Leni grabbed Deidre's arm and squeezed so tightly that her long fingernails broke the skin; blood started to drip from the brunette's arm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ms Hill. I don't fight like a girl; I don't slap: I punch back, and I punch hard. So unless you plan to become very intimate with your orthodontist, I strongly suggest you keep your hands off me!" Leni's cool voice was soft and silky, but the menace contained in it made Deidre nearly wet herself. Leni thrust Deidre's arm away roughly and walked away with her jacket over her arm.

"Are you going to let her get away with that, Ry?" Deidre shrilled. She was shaking in anger and frustration.

Ryodan grinned inwardly to himself. Even though Leni's insult was directed at him as well, he wasn't angry with her. He was proud that she stood up to the much bigger Deidre.

"You called that on yourself, Dee. Leni did nothing to you. You made a threat and now you"re paying for it. I think it's time you to leave." Ryodan voice was hard as he fished several ten pound notes out of his wallet and handed them to her. "Call for a taxi and go home."

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Deidre asked plaintively.

"No. I won't be needing you anymore. We're through." Ryodan replied harshly.

Moira, who was sitting with some friends at a nearby table, covered her mouth to stifle the laugh building inside. She was heady with malicious glee. For a week, she had watched the brunette with Ryodan and plotted to find a way to get rid of her. She hadn't thought the brunette would fall for her obvious ploy, but she did. Exultation bubbled through her.

_Stupid bitch; you don't deserve a man like Ryodan, and neither does Leni Hammond. Too bad the "accident" I planned for that little blonde bitch wasn't successful; still she seems to be out of the picture now. I would have planned something entirely different for the Great Ms Hill; something that would have marred that smarmy face of hers._ Moira thought to herself.

An hour and a half later, a freshly showered Leni sat on the sofa in the gatehouse in a short bathrobe and cotton briefs. The robe was tied loosely at the waist. She was brushing her damp hair while watching TV and eating chocolate almond ice cream from the pint container. Her eyes didn't register what was appearing on the television; her mind was on Ryodan and the strong urge she had to strangle him right now.

She was pigging out on the ice cream; eating sweets was something she did when she felt dejected or upset. Chocolate almond ice cream was her favorite comfort food. She really felt upset tonight. She was so depressed, she asked Denny to take her home immediately.

When she reached her door, she realized she had left her purse at Marty's. She and Denny walked over to the guard house and got another key. Denny asked to come in, but Leni said no. She kissed him on the cheek before he left, saying, "I like you, Denny, just not that way."

She called the pub and Uncle Marty went to check for her. If he found it, he said he would hold her purse in the desk in his office until she claimed it tomorrow, but when he came back to the phone, he said Bridget would drop it by at the gatehouse tomorrow.

Leni was shoveling a big tablespoon full of ice cream into her mouth when she heard someone knocking at the door. Thinking it was Bridget bringing her purse, she shot up and walked to the door licking ice cream off the spoon. Since she had the container in her other hand, she stuffed the spoon in her mouth and opened the door. It wasn't Bridget, who was standing there. It was Ryodan. Her purse was in his hand. Leni was suddenly embarrassed. She felt like a kid again, caught with her hand in Gran's cookie jar.

Her heart started to stutter; she blushed a bright red. She pulled the spoon out of her mouth and quickly shoved the spoon and the ice cream behind her back. "Oh, it's you," she said in a shocked voice.

"I came to apologize for Deidre and to bring you this." Ryodan managed to get the words out before he started to laugh.

Without an invitation, he stepped into the room; Leni automatically backed up toward the sofa in the living room, stopping when the back of her leg hit the coffee table. Ryodan followed staying within inches of her body. He looked down at he, "You look ridiculous, he said and laughed again. She had a big smear of chocolate on her cheek, and her lips were all covered with ice cream. She looked just like a guilty child, and she looked utterly adorable.

Bending down, he kissed her lightly, licking the confection off her lips and cheek. He knew it was a mistake the minute he did it. As soon as his lips touched hers, an electric charge sizzled the air between them. He could actually see the sparks they created. Spontaneously, he began to cast until his pheromones filled the room.

Leni jumped back; she was so startled. She began to shiver hard; her knees grew weak. She sucked in a sharp breath of surprise. Deep in his brain, Ryodan knew that even though it was not humanly possible, on some level, Leni picked up the scent of his pheromones; she could feel the lure of his Draghar nature.

Leni was badly shaken by her reaction, Ryodan had not made any threatening gestures, but still she was shocked. She was knew the way she felt that something was not normal. She set the ice cream container and the spoon down on the coffee table. With one hand, she curiously touched her lips, and she silently stated at him. Her lips still buzzed with the energy of his kiss. His lips had felt so good on hers; she craved more with a ferocity that seemed to border on insanity.

He bent and kissed her again, more deeply this time, and stepped back shaken by his own reaction. Every time, he touched Leni, the emotions he felt were deeper, more intense. An aching for her grew inside him; it was so deep, he could barely breathe. Desire and an unfamiliar feeling roared through him and left him hot and cold at the same time; He was shaking just as hard as Leni. He felt really strange; he could even feel the tattoos on his body pulsing strangely as if they ached for Leni too.

Leni could barely stand; her legs felt rubbery and weak. His kiss had her trembling uncontrollably like a love starved fool. She stared wide eyed at him; her violet eyes were luminous and shone with confusion and hesitation. She wanted to kiss him back, but she was afraid of another rejection. She knew she couldn't stand that hurt and humiliation again.

"Ryodan, why?" her soft voice begged for an explanation. She couldn't move, and she couldn't say anything more.

Ryodan didn't say anything; he had no answer to give; he just stared back at her; his black eyes even darker with unknown emotion. For a few seconds, he felt frozen in time. He had told himself he had just come to drop off her purse and to apologize for Deidre's behavior, but he knew that was a shallow lie. He wanted to see her so badly, any excuse would do. The purse was his excuse; he jumped at it eagerly.

As they stood absolutely still staring into each others eyes. They both began to breath in hard uneven pants, but their breathing was synchronized; they seemed to be breathing as one. Leni was puzzled by that. Reaching out, she touched his chest above his heart with one small hand. In turn, he placed one of his large hands just above her heart. They could feel their hears beating in rhythm to the emotions that beset them. Her touch was feather soft, but it seared him through his clothing. Leni felt the same.

Leni!" A deep primitive sound of pure animal need rumbled from deep within his chest, exploding outward like an erupting volcano. Ryodan felt like he was being burned alive in a conflagration of lust and desire stronger than a burning sun. He needed Leni right now more than he had ever wanted any other woman.

His need for her was a primitive, wild, feral thing, from a place impossibly deep inside him. The beast inside him roared out its need for this female, but he felt so much more than that. Leni called to him; she was part of him; he needed her to complete him. Without her he would be an empty shell. All he could think of was Leni. He knew if they mated tonight, there was no going back.

Leni!" he cried again. The sound of his deep voice reverberated strongly through her and made her tingle with need. The floor underneath her feet shook. Her small body rippled in response and exploded in a strong orgasm. The smell of her female juices combined with the musky smell of his arousal pushed her to the brink. She was wild for him. Ryodan called to her in a way that she didn't understand, and everything in her responded to that call.

She needed him deep inside her, covering her; filling her with his essence. Her desire for him controlled her, but Leni knew it was more than that. For the first time, she acknowledged the love she felt for him; when it happened, it didn't matter because it was there now, deep, abiding and so strong that it shook her to the center of her very being. For the first time, she recognized that Ryodan was a part of her being now; he always would be. If they made love tonight, she was lost, and there was no going back.

Later when she thought of that night, Leni could not remember how they got to the bedroom, or how they got undressed. Her next conscious thought was of Ryodan hot naked body cradling her from behind. He was sitting on his heels on her bed; and she was straddling his lap with her back to his chest.

Ryodan was moving deep inside of her and stroking hard. His engorged penis filled her moist, wet channel to the hilt. Her inner core was pulsing as it stretched so tightly around him that she could feel every vein and every ridge in his manhood. The tightness of her sex made him want to scream with ecstasy. He had worried about her taking him, but the soft cream of her arousal provided all the lubricant he needed to move within her without causing her pain from his huge size.

Ryodan held Leni tightly against him her with one hand; the other hand found the swollen bud of her clit and teased it; he Pinched it lightly between his thumb and forefinger and rubbing; the friction against her soft sensitive skin sent shuddering waves of pleasure through her until she came.

Rotating and undulating his hips; He went even deeper with each stroke until he was touching her womb. Leni panted and moaned as she undulated and writhed too. She pushed her hips down and ground her sex against his pelvis; she wanted to impale herself on his length.

They were both slick with sweat, the steam of their breath fogging the cooler bedroom, and they were getting hotter by the minute. Ryodan softly whispered words of endearment in Gaelic and English; words that he never said to the other women. She understood and whispered them back. He whispered words in a guttural language she could not possibly understand; and yet somehow, she did.

Leni was overcome with emotions so powerful they amazed and astonished her. She thought words of love for him in her mind. She was so lost in the pure ecstasy and joy his precious body gave her, she wasn't even conscious of the fact that she was talking out loud.

Through the daze of pleasure that his own body experienced, Ryodan's sharp sense of hearing heard her words Part of him was elated to hear them. The other part of him felt stricken because he could not love her back, but he was not willing to give her up, not yet. Someday soon he would have to, but not yet.

Their slick bodies slapped together making wonderful, wet, sucking sounds. Leni felt the heat of his large testicles beating against the soft sensitive outer folds of her sex; it was amazingly sensual and erotic. She wanted to touch them to give him as much pleasure as he gave her; arching her back, she bent forward a little. One small hand cupped him and began to massage lightly.

Ryodan groaned and jumped as he felt her hand; the orgasm that he had been trying hard to hold back, threatened to burst forth and deluge them both, but he wasn't quite ready yet; he wanted to make her come with him. Quickly, he drew her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Wait, little one. Not yet," he managed to gasp.

It wasn't much longer before he felt the muscles in Leni's abdomen clench hard as her own orgasm built, ready to erupt. He could hear her moans of pleasure as he rocked into her faster and faster. His testicles lifted and tightened, making ready for the finish.

Gently nudging Leni forward with his big body, he bent her over to balance on her two hands. After running his tongue down her spine, he moved her long hair to one side and found the spot where her neck and shoulder joined; he bit down hard slightly breaking the skin as orgasm roared through him; he pumped his seed into her hard and hot and high. Ryodan claimed Leni her in the manner a Zaghar male claims a Zaghar female. It was a biological imperative that could not be denied.

She screamed his name as she came. Once, twice, three times, he shuddered as he poured into her. He was shocked by what he had just done. He had never claimed had claimed a human female in that manner; he had never wanted to.

The tidal wave of her own orgasm ripped through her and joined with his powerful climax creating a tsunami of powerful physical sensations. They rode the high crest of pleasure together, wave after wave, until they both shattered, crying out the others name.

Ryodan collapsed on top of Leni, feeling so weak, he could barely move. "Ryodan, I can't breathe," she squeaked. Rolling on his back, he pulled her small body on top of him. He was fully and completely satisfied, but her could not bear to be without her nearness. He wanted to climb inside her skin.

For an hour he held her that way, stroking her hair and her back, murmuring softly to her as the aftershocks of their orgasms slowly subsided. He felt her tears as they softly fell on his chest. He understood how shattering their lovemaking had been to her;it had been the same for him. For the first time in millennia, Ryodan finally felt at peace. He finally felt happy, and he felt contentment.

Leni felt happy and content too as she fell asleep stretched out on top of Ryodan with her her cheek against his chest. His scent and the sound of his beating heart calmed her. She was as as light as a feather, and he didn't mind at all. Pulling the blanket up over them both, he slept deeply himself until past dawn.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Wednesday, May 6th

"A part of Dublin has just disappeared!" Jericho Zigor Barrons declared. The other eight Draghar looked up when he said that. They were all startled by his words. A feeling of dread began to fill them all.

"What do you mean, Zigor! Explain." Lor said.

"The buildings are there but the people are gone. The Bridge District has become a Dark Zone. Something happened there; it looks like some sort of post apocalypse world. Ten square blocks of empty buildings are without a living thing, no animals, no birds, not even worms or other organisms in the soil."

"There is no electricity, and the street lamps have all been broken. No lights of any kind glow at night; it is completely dark. Doors to residences and stores have been left opened. Food has been left untouched on the tables. Abandoned cars are parked along the curbs, some in the middle of the streets, and some at intersections. Many have been left with their doors wide open. The sidewalks and car seats are piled high with garments. Keys are left in the ignition or on the ground beside the vehicles. The streets and are filled with these papery things, that look like dried out husks, floating around."

"In the daytime, unnatural shadows move and slither about like dark shades. These shadows can't seem to tolerate any amount of light. I turned my torch on one, and it shrank back as if it felt pain. It was definitely alive. They move fast like Fae; I saw one of those things chase down and consume a large rat in seconds. When it was done, nothing was left of the rat except a papery husk. The Bridge District has the stink of Unseelie Fae magic about it." Zigor grimaced and shuddered in disgust.

"The really strange thing is that the Bridge District no longer shows up on printed city maps, and unfortunately the Dark Zones are starting to appear elsewhere in Dublin. Cell phones apparently don't work in them; there seem to be no working towers in them anymore. My contacts at the Garda have confirmed that there has been a huge increase in the number missing people from that district in the last three weeks. They have been inundated with missing person reports. They have investigated and some of the Garda have gone missing too. The top brass don't know what to make of it."

"You would think that the media would notice that hundreds of people in one goddamned neighborhood have disappeared off the face of this earth, but there hasn't been a so much a peep. Why?"

"We need to find out what is happening, and what it means. We may have another war on our hands, but if it is Unseelie doing this, then I am sure the king is involved. The Seelie may be involved in this too. This time, I am not sure we will survive, my friends. We must find a way to stop this." Zigor angrily slammed his fist down on the table.

Jericho Zigor Barrons had called the other eight Zaghar warriors to a meeting at Chester's. The tall, dark men met upstairs in a room next to Ryodan's office. They were discussing several of the latest Fae sitings and other strange events that happened in Dublin in recent weeks. All Draghar had seen both Seelie and Unseelie Fae many times during the last few thousand years, but never in great numbers. The shades, the disappearing neighborhoods and people though was a different matter entirely. They could not recall that ever happening before.

"More and more Unseelie are showing up in the city working in menial jobs and as body guards. We have all seen O'Bannion's body guards, and now Malluce, that freak that calls himself a vampire, also has Unseelie working for him." Another warrior named Zahn added. These Unseelie abominations would be named "Rhino" boys by MacKayla Lane more than a year later, but there was no way for the Zaghar warriors to know that now.

"If Seelie are involved in this, it is bad, but if it is Unseelie, that can only mean that they are somehow escaping from Aiobheal's prison. What has happened to the walls between Faery and Earth? What has happened to her prison walls. I know they have been weakened in the last few decades, but I did not think it was this bad." Angus said.

"There have been reports of both a Gray Man and a Gray woman being seen in the city several times. It is possible that there is more than one of each. They suck the beauty, and the very life out of humans, yet we have not heard anything about them in the media either. Perhaps the Garda does not want to start a panic, but it is hard to believe the media would go along with that. I agree, it is very strange that the media are silent on this." A warrior named Tegner declared.

"To make matters worse, Prince V-Lane told me last night, that he suspects someone is bringing Unseelie through a portal to earth." Barrons said. "He thinks it is Darroc. I have also seen Darroc, but not for some months."

"That filthy Fae creature, V-Lane, is here in Dublin? Where? What did he want, Zigor?" Ryodan demanded.

"Darroc! I thought the Fae Queen, Aiobheal, killed him for his treason." Another deep voice shouted at the same time.

The room erupted in a din of angry outbursts.

"You should have kill them both, immediately; did you, Zigor?" Yet another deep voice growled.

"No, Aiobheal only took away Darroc's Fae powers. He is mortal now. Like V-Lane, he wants to join forces with us to search for the Sinsar Dubh. V-Lane does not know that I have seen Darroc. They both know that we are searching for the book, and they may even know why, but they are not working together. Each wants the book for himself for the power it will give him. I did not kill either of them because I believe that one or both will lead us to other Unseelie Hallows, or to the book itself. It is imperative that we get to it before either one of them does." Barrons responded with his own growl.

For a few more minutes, the room echoed with the angry curses of the Draghar warriors who all had more than enough reason to hate V-Lane, Darroc and the Fae.

V-Lane, one of the most powerful of the noble Seelie princes, had invented the Wild Hunt to amuse his queen and the other Seelie casts. Hunting human women, especially sidhe seers, to rape and leave them addicted to sex amused the bored, corrupt Fae as no other debauchery before had done. He claimed that he wanted the Sinsar Dubh for Aiobheal who would use it to strengthen the walls between Earth and Faery. Barrons knew better. He suspected that V-Lane wanted the book to usurp the queen's power for his own much like the Unseelie King had done thousands of years ago.

Darroc was not a prince, but he was an old and powerful nobleman of the highest Seelie caste. He held humans in even more contempt than the younger V-Lane. Darroc had long sought to persuade Aiobheal to bring back the old ways where Fae were considered gods and lowly humans, their slaves. Darroc was filled with anger and a need for vengeance because his wishes were ignored. Some say he plotted to overthrow Aiobheal and take her place. Barrons wondered if he had made a bargain with the Unseelie King who also searched for his ancient book of magic, the Sinsar Dubh.

"Zahn, Tegnor, I want you both to search the Bridge District from top to bottom; you must leave no stone unturned. If the shades are Unseelie, you need not fear them. They will be afraid of Zaghar. Try to determine how to kill those things,if possible. Report to me what you have found out no later than Friday." Zigor, their leader, ordered. The two men nodded and rose.

Before the meeting broke up, Tegan stood to make an announcement. "You have all been invited to my wedding with Bridget McDonald on Sunday night. I hope you will all be there." The other eight men nodded.

"We have another reason to celebrate. I want to announce to all of you tonight that my Bridget is pregnant. She carries my son in her womb." Joy and amazement shown on the big man's face.

The other eight Draghar sat in stunned silence for a moment then erupted in a mighty roar of joy. They cheered, clapped and stamped their hands and feet so hard the building shook. The curse that plagued them for over two thousand years had finally been broken. No human female had conceived a Draghar warrior's child since Zayida, and the other wives and children were slaughtered. By the Unseelie King.

The news that Tegan had just given them was priceless beyond measure. They all knew that if it happened to Tegan, it could happen to them too. These men wanted more than anything to have their murdered wives and children back, but if they failed, they wanted new families.

For two thousand years, most of these nine men wondered if fate had made them sterile as punishment for not saving their women and families, but the curse was now apparently lifted. Before Tegan and Ryodan left to join Bridget and Leni at Marty's, Tegan's huge body was sore from all the back slapping he received from his fellow warriors.

"Ry, I won't be bringing Bridget to Chester's for a while. The cigarette smoke here is no good for her or the baby. I hope you understand." Tegan told his friend. Chester's was one of the only places that smoking was allowed. It was considered a crime, but the cops didn't even try to stop it; they knew better.

Friday night, Leni sat with Bridget in the back of Marty's Pub. Her Uncle Martin's pub was more typical of what a neighborhood bar should be. During this visit to Dublin, Leni spent some time almost every evening there. It was a place that made her feel very welcome and comfortable.

The pub was large and decorated well with lots of wood and crystal. A big, oval shaped, wooden bar was the focal point of the main room on the first floor. Two smaller rooms upstairs were used for private affairs. All the rooms were filled with tall plants. Gas burning logs replaced the wooden ones in an old fireplace against the back wall. The booths were tall and private, the seats cushioned and soft. The tables were wooden with comfortable chairs. Nice drapery covered the windows. A small stage and dance floor were in the back.

Although it was a tourist destination, the clientele was friendly. They were everyday normal people. It was the sort of a place that a man could bring his wife, or a date, for a drink or a meal and not feel uncomfortable. The atmosphere was homey and neighborly. Marty's Pub and Chester's were polar opposites. Leni felt much more at home here.

It was near midnight and earlier Leni, Bridget and Sean had performed a few songs with the band. She was tired; the week had been busy and both women felt they needed to relax Tomorrow night there was rehearsal and a rehearsal dinner scheduled. They still had a couple of things to wrap up before the wedding on Sunday.

Leni was debating whether or not to talk to her cousin about Ryodan; she had not told her how far things had gone with him. That was not surprising; like Bridget, Leni was superstitious; she believed if she talked too soon about her feelings for the big man too soon, something bad would happen. Even though Ryodan met them a couple of times at Marty's; the two of them were cool and circumspect. Leni asked him to keep their relationship under wraps.

That was all right with him; he told her t that what was happening between him and Leni was no one else's business. Besides, next Monday, Leni was leaving Dublin for home. Ryodan had not expressed any desire to continue their relationship. Although, Leni wanted that more than anything, she would not play the role of a clinging woman. She reconciled herself to the fact that they would soon be over. She did not want Ryodan to know how deeply her feelings were involved.

The last seven days had been full ones. Days were spent with Bridget shopping, seeing the caterer, the florist, the band and preparing for the wedding. The early part of every night was spent with Bridget and her girl friends at one bridal shower or another, Bridget was very popular among her circle of friends and at work. Leni made sure she was home by midnight. After midnight, Ryodan picked Leni up, and the two spent time together at a restaurant or another pub or night club for a couple of hours. He even took her bowling one night.

They ended up either in Ryodan's big bed or her smaller one at the gatehouse. Their lovemaking was vigorous, intense and deeply satisfying. It was hard for Ryodan to believe how Leni made him feel when they made love; she was simply incredible. Every night, he slept for hours curled around her small body; his body sated and his mind and heart content. They stayed together that way until way after dawn.

With other women, Ryodan did not like to be touched after sex. He didn't like to cuddle or exchange meaningless endearments. Usually he made excuses to leave or sent them home almost immediately after, but that did not happen with Leni.

She didn't try to pressure him for more than what he was willing to give. Except for that first time, she didn't say she loved him. He had used his Draghar magic to slip inside her mind that night; he knew that at the time, she wasn't even aware of what she said, and she never said it again.

She didn't nag him to tell her that he loved her. She didn't beg him for a commitment. She didn't demand to know if he thought she was the best sex he ever had, like the others did. She didn't harp on him to know where their relationship was going. She was open, playful, giving and unrestrained in her lovemaking. She was refreshingly different from any women he had ever known.

He loved to hold her small body lying full length on top of his while they talked. He wanted to know everything about her life. He wanted to know about her grandmother and Bridget and Sean, and even about Philip. He wanted to know her every like and dislike. He told her a little about himself, but of course, he did not tell her what he was. Still, he never talked so much to one woman.

He loved to straddle her and kneel back on his haunches taking care not to crush her as explored every inch of her soft silky skin with his big hands and fingers. He found every erogenous zone on her body. He learned where she was ticklish, where she liked to be massaged and caressed. He learned where she did not like to be touched at all.

Most of all he craved the feel of her soft warm hands on him as she explored every part of his body in return. It just made him feel happy and content to touch her, or to have her touch him. He soon realized that any tension and strain he had disappeared whenever she was near.

Leni was captivated by the big man who was now her lover. She always wanted the lights on so that she could see every part of him. She adored his body; she loved to close her eyes and slowly run her hands all over him trying to memorize every inch of him, including his strong hands and feet. She loved to trace the every feature of his face with her finger tips. She learned the definition of the muscles in his arms, chest, back, legs and abdomen. She played with his broad, sexy, hairless chest. She was intrigued by it and asked him if he shaved it; he laughed and said no.

She massaged his scalp with her strong finger until he purred. Sometimes he caught her fingers in his mouth and lightly nibbled at them playfully. At other times, her touch started a flame that burned so hot, the only way to it put out was to sink himself deep inside her make love to her for hours. He was mesmerized by the little unicorn tattoo on her belly; He loved to watch it move. He enjoyed licking and nibbling at it and watching it dance as quivers of pleasure rippled through her abdomen when he touched her. He just loved seeing that; he couldn't get enough of it.

She was enthralled by the red and black tattoos on his back, shoulders, chest arms and legs. He didn't have the name of girl or hearts or snakes or other typical tattoos she had seen on other men. His tattoos were unique, and they mesmerized her. He teased her and said they were magic.

She recognized some of the tattoos as ancient Celtic runes since she had taken several elective courses on ancient languages at Rutgers. The other whorls and designs were unlike anything she had ever seen before. She liked to lay on top of him with her cheek on his chest as he held her and trace the designs with her fingers.

His tattoos often moved and pulsed under her fingers. The first time that happened, it startled her. Leni shot straight up and almost landed on her butt on the floor. "What just happened? They moved!" she exclaimed. "Tattoos aren't supposed to that!" she said with conviction.

Ryodan was almost as startled as Leni was when he felt his tattoos pulse under her touch, but to cover his confusion up, he just laughed and said, "They are magic, little one. They must like your touch as much as I do."

"Oh, sort of like my Fae cuff, huh?" she said. Her cuff often felt alive to her too. It pulsed and glowed with an alarming feeling when she first met Ryodan as if it sensed danger. Now, it tingled and glowed warmly around him all the time. She liked the way the cuff felt when she and Ryodan were together.

At Marty's about ten after midnight, Tegan, Ryodan and Sean were up front talking to Uncle Marty. A gorgeous blonde male, who reminded Leni of an underwear model she had seen on television, came in and sat down at back side of the bar on the side closest to Leni and Bridget.

The guy was tall with large, luminescent dark brown eyes and tanned skin. Although the night was cool, he wasn't wearing a coat or a jacket. His tight black t-shirt stretched over bulging pecs and a set of washboard abs. Skin tight blue jeans, made even tighter by the wallet in his back pocket, emphasized, narrow, firm hips, long legs. Leni noticed his crotch held a package that most men could only ever dream of.

Strong arms and long slim fingers were enhanced by a wide black bracelet on one wrist and a gold watch on the other. His feet were encased in gorgeous leather boots. His face was perfectly proportioned with regular features and teeth that gleamed a white under wide sensual lips. The man was simply amazingly beautiful. He was the king of man who most women would drool over, and that included Leni, except not tonight: her lover, Ryodan, was on her mind.

The new guy looked around as if looking for someone to pick up. He made his choice and sat down at the bat next to a beautiful red headed woman of about twenty five. Leni had seen her in the pub on a number of occasions with a tall dark haired guy, but she was alone tonight. The new guy bought them both a drink.

The two moved to a booth almost directly across from the two cousins separated by a small four top table. Perhaps they didn't notice they had company, but In the privacy of the tall booth, they were all over each other, kissing and pawing. One of his large hand was thrust down the front of her generous bosom, the other hand was up underneath her skirt and stroking in and out. The red head was moaning in ecstasy as if she were enjoying a major orgasm right there.

Leni felt a headache coming on and her stomach turned nauseous when the man first sat down at the bar; she felt a lot worse as he came nearer. She looked at Bridget and saw that she was white in the face and looked like she was going to vomit too. They both stated at the couple for a couple of secondS, then. Leni blinked several times. She couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her. From the look of shock on Bridget's face, she had the same problem. They were both drinking sodas, but Leni wondered if the drinks had been tampered with because she and Bridget were definitely having the same horrible hallucination.

Gone was the perfectly beautiful underwear model. In its place was what could only be described as a monster from some horror movie. It was impossibly tall, well over nine feet. Its body and head were narrow. Its skinny face was no more than two or three inches wide. On either side of its face, huge horrifying eyes, the color of pus with no irises, were fixed in a ghastly stare. Its leprous flesh was rotting off its face, and body and it reeked of the coffin. White bone peaked through pieces of decayed flesh.

It had a slash of a mouth and a long snakelike tongue that was shoved down the girl's throat. From what they could see, its tongue was covered with suckers and extended from behinds lips that were filled with rotted, huge fang like inhuman teeth. Its arms writhed like tentacles an ended in hands with a narrow palms that had large octopus like suckers in the middle and long yellow talons for fingers. The two cousins could see one of those hideous palms as it withdrew its hand from underneath the girl's skirt.

What was most disgusting was that it was touching the woman with those hands and tongue, and they were sucking the beauty from the woman. In front of their eyes, the woman's skin grew old, gray, wrinkled and brittle. Her spine curved in a hunch back. The longer it touched her, the older, uglier and thinner she became until she was nothing more than an ancient old hag with withered and cracked skin. Clumps of hair fell out of her head onto the floor beside the booth.

Leni let our a breath filled with horror. "Are you seeing what I am seeing, Bridey?" her cousin nodded. "What ever that thing is, it's not human, Munchkin!" Bridget replied.

Leni nodded; terror and fear coiled deep in the pit of her stomach. "I thought I was imagining it, but you really do see it too; don't you?"

Bridget nodded with horror evident on her face; she whispered softly. "Let's get out of here, Leni!" The two women slid out of their seats and moved quietly a few steps toward the front on the bar.

At that moment, the thing raised its head from the redhead and looked directly at them with its large, horrible, inhuman eyes. For a moment, it shimmered back to a beautiful man, but changed back to a monster again in a matter of seconds. The woman slid to the floor. She was no longer beautiful; she looked like an emaciated old crone.

"Oh my God. It sees us. Run, Bridget!" Leni screamed.

The thing burst out of its seat before the girls could take another step. The woman it had been feeding on fell to the floor gagging and moaning in pain.

"You can see me? Ah, yes; I know what you are, sidhe seers." it sneered and grinned.

Leni and Bridget clasped hands. Both their faces displayed primitive emotions of dread and terror so primal that their very beings shrieked out in warning. Every cell of their body recognized the inhuman creature n front of them for what it was; it was death. They tried to get around the thing, but it moved moved with incredible speed and blocked their way.

"No, I cannot let you go! You will tell others of your kind that I am here, and they will try to stop me from having my pleasure. I will kill you both. I will suck you both dry, but first you will know such pain. I will enjoy every second of it!" The thing said with malevolent glee as it and lunged toward them. It leaped easily over a table between them clearing the small distance that separated them. The two women screamed again.

Leni looked around the bar. Ryodan, Tegan, Sean and Uncle Marty had heard their screams and were moving fast toward them. Ryodan and Tegan moved faster than the human eye could see, but just before they got within ten feet of the girls' booth, they slammed face first into an invisible barrier. Sean was there only a few seconds later. Curiously, Uncle Marty turned and toward the bar and started to count the till.

Leni could see Tegan, Ryodan and Sean shouting, but no sound came from their throats. They were fighting to get through the barrier, but they could not. No one else in the bar seemed to notice anything was wrong. Everyone beside Tegan, Ryodan and Sean were determinedly involved with something else.

The Fae cuff on Leni's left arm began to tingle and glow; it was humming loudly with a piercing whine. Without thinking, she pushed the much taller, pregnant Bridget behind her and flung her arms out in a defensive motion. The Fae cuff on her arm flashed brighter and shimmered with heat. It began to quiver with a strange energy. In a sudden flash, an opaque barrier appeared between Leni, Bridget and the monster. The monster crashed into the barrier and froze, its dark maw opened in disbelief.

At the same time, another brilliant flash occurred. A tall man appeared in iridescent ball of light between the two cousins and the monster. Leni recognized him immediately. It was Danal.

Danal, their grandfather, looked like Sean, Bridget's brother. He was even taller, and bigger, but he looked only a few years older. He was 6'6" with long, flowing, dark brown hair with honey blonde highlights, golden tanned skin, unusual copper eyes, broad shouldered, lean hips,. His eyes and body shimmered like a flickering rainbow. A golden light surrounded him; right now, he looked fierce and feral. He reminded Leni of a picture she had seen of an avenging angel in some art book long ago, but he was still the most beautiful being Leni had ever seen.

"Grandfather," Leni cried. "Please help us!"

"Grandfather?" Bridget whispered in a shocked voice.

The beautiful Fae prince threw both of his hands out in front of him. A powerful stream of white light flashed like focused laser beam toward the creature. The beam struck the monster dead center in the chest and flared out. The thing staggered back, lost his balance and roared out in agony. It tried to rise, but Danal kept pouring it on; the beam sang with magic as it became more powerful. The monster weakened, affected by the power of the beam.

"You cannot kill me, Danal. I am Fae like you; they are only human. Fae do not kill Fae." The thing screamed out pathetically in a terrified voice.

"You are nothing like me, you unspeakable abomination! I am Seelie; you are an Unseelie horror that should never have been given life. These women are of my bloodline; you dare to harm them? For that you will die!" Danal roared. It was the sound of a multitude and echoed around in the room, and it was it was the sound of a single voice. It was both loud and soft at the same time. The sound of his voice was not human; it hurt their ears; it was terrible to hear. The look in Danal's eyes was even worse.

"They are mine; I love them; I will gladly kill you to protect them!" he screamed. The beam from Danal's hands grew in size and shape until it enveloped the creature. The monster smoked as if he were being cooked alive; the smell gagged the two women. It shrieked as it shriveled, shrinking more and more, until it popped into nothingness.

Leni and Bridget hung onto each other trembling; neither was able to speak.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The opaque barrier Leni erected around her and Bridget disappeared as Danal slew the Unseelie monster, but the invisible barrier erected by the Gray Man lasted long seconds after he died. Leni was shocked by the barricade she had thrown up between them and the monster; using the cuff had been purely a reflex action; she had no time to consciously think about it at all. She was stunned when the Gray Man froze, but her instincts told her the barrier would not have kept him away for long. As she and Bridget stared at the emaciated remains of the dead woman lying on the floor, Leni started to shake with fear.

Danal whirled and embraced both Leni and Bridget with each arm. "You are safe now, my beloved granddaughters. That Unseelie creature is dead. It cannot harm you." he said as he gently stroked their hair and kissed them both on the cheek.

"Grandfather!" Leni cried as she embraced Danal, but Bridget shrugged out of his arm and moved away; her eyes were wide with terror. Her mind could not process what had just happened. An inhuman beast had tried to kill her and Leni. They were saved by another inhuman being who looked just like her brother. Now that being called her "granddaughter;" and Leni called him "grandfather."

"You're not human. You can't be. What are you? Why did Leni call you Grandfather. You can't be our grandfather.. My grandfathers are both dead." she cried confused.

"No, child, my name is Danal, and I am your grandfather. It is true that I am not human; I am Fae. I am of an old and noble house, but I am truly your grandfather. Your grandmother, Catriona, was my wife and my soul mate. Your mother, Diana, is my daughter as was Leni's mother, Sarah"he replied. Bridget could feel herself being drawn to Danal's aura. She could feel herself wanting to believe him.

Gran had always told stories about the Fae, but Bridget was a modern, sophisticated woman, and she was too down to earth to believe in them. She considered herself too intelligent and too much of a realist to believe that Danal was one of those mythical creatures.

"You're lying! I don't believe you." Even as she said the words, the urge to believe Danal grew stronger until she did; then a new thought set her mind reeling. She knew Danal was telling the truth, and a part of her loved him. She could not help herself, but she didn't want to respond to him. She didn't want to love a man who had left her grandmother pregnant and alone. A deep seated fury replaced the fear and horror.

"How could you do it? How could you abandon Gran when she was pregnant? Where have you been? I don't understand; Mother said you died in the war before she and Aunt Sarah were born. Yet here you are, alive and well; where were you? Why haven't we met you before?" she exclaimed shaking her head. Danal reached out to touch her, but she backed away from him even further.

Leni moved and took Bridget's hand. "It's true, Bridget. He is our grandfather. I met him once before on my 15th birthday. I am sorry, but I could not tell you about him. I promised Gran and him both not to say anything. They thought you would be in danger if you knew." The promise seemed so ridiculous and futile now.

Ryodan, Tegan and Sean stood in shock. They had seen and heard everything. When the invisible barrier that was holding them back disappeared, Tegan and Sean moved to Leni and Bridget's side. Ryodan did not move; he stared at Danal, Leni and her cousins in anger and horror. He seemed frozen to the spot, unable to move.

Tegan took Bridget in his arms and held her; she began to cry in deep wracking sobs. He patted her back to comfort her. Leni moved toward Ryodan, but the implacable look on his face stopped her; she moved to Bridget instead, patting her cousin's arm to comfort her as well. Bridget angrily brushed Leni's hands away; her face showed confusion and hurt.

When Sean saw the Gray Man trying to attack his sister and cousin, something feral and wild erupted inside him. He knew that thing had to die, and he wanted to kill it. His heart swelled with pride when he watched Leni use her cuff to erect a barrier between them and the Gray Man. He had never seen anything like what Leni had done; it was as if she knew the purpose of that strange bracelet on her arm. It was as if she had used it before to defend herself, but he too was filled with dread when he realized that the barrier would not hold long, and there was nothing that they could do about it.

When Danal appeared, a primitive sense of recognition of his own kind surfaced deep inside Sean. He understood there was a profound connection between him and the being that looked so much like him, but he didn't grasp exactly what it was. When Danal stated he was their grandfather, at first, fury at the big Fae male overwhelmed the gratitude Sean felt when Danal saved Bridget and Leni. With his face showing his own great confusion and anger, he said, "Bridget is right; you can't be our grandfather. If you were, you could not have left Gran, Mom and Aunt Sarah alone like that. They needed you; how could you do that?"

"I am your grandfather, Sean. You must believe me; but there are things that you and Bridget don't understand. I hated to do it, but I had to leave Catriona; it would have been dangerous for her and my unborn daughters if I stayed. Ir was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. There are many Seelie Fae like myself who have human spouses and children, and they all had to hide them and leave them too."

"After I met your grandmother, something happened. You see, the Seelie never accepted the Unseelie as true Fae; they were the Unseelie King's creations. They were not beautiful like Seelie, they were hideous and ugly. Unseelie considered Faery as their rightful home, but most Seelie did not want them, so thousands of years ago there was a great war between Seelie and Unseelie. Many on both sides were killed, but Seelie eventually triumphed. While the war raged, the Fae queen built a prison of ice and stone to hold any surviving Unseelie. They were hunted down by her warriors and imprisoned in that godforsaken place. Their prison is a dark, cold, empty place; there is no warmth, no food, no light, no comfort of any kind, only loneliness, pain and starvation. For thousands of years, Unseelie have been abandoned in their prison and left to rot. They are immortal like us, and some have gone mad, but others have grown to know only hatred for those who imprisoned and abandoned them"

"Right after your grandmother became pregnant, for some reason, the walls between Faery and Earth started to weaken, and the walls to the Unseelie prison weakened even more. We do not know for sure why this has happened, but we suspect some powerful dark magic is at work. Some say it is the work of the Sinsar Dubh. At any rate, Unseelie began to escape their prison, only a few at first, but now, they escape by the thousands. Some have gone to Earth, others to Faery. Once free, these abominations live only to fill the deep emptiness inside them; they want to feed, and they want revenge. Many humans here, and many Seelie on Faery, have been killed by these monsters; they hold nothing sacred not even other Fae blood."

"Our queen, Aiobheal, was convinced that the Unseelie King was responsible since he created the Sinsar Dubh. She began a great hunt for him and the Unseelie monsters he created, but I and others do not believe that. Prince V-Lane, her lover, has convinced the queen that human/Fae children have long consorted with the Unseelie King and his creatures. He has convinced her that they are plotting together to overthrow her and hand her throne over to the king. Aiobheal is a powerful being, but when it comes to V-Lane, she has always had a blind spot. With him, she has been weak and a fool. She believes every word he tells her."

"He is playing the dutiful lover now to convince her to marry him and crown him King of the Fae. He knows she loves him above all others, and she is convinced that he loves her, but many Fae like myself know that is not true. We hate V-Lane for what he has done to humans in his Great Hunts. During these hunts, he has destroyed many of our sidhe seer mates and children over the millennia. We know that if V-Lane is declared king, he will eventually kill the queen and take power for himself. He is playing a very dangerous game."

"As I said, V-Lane does not love the queen; but he has convinced her that he does. He is looking for the book of magic, the Sinsar Dubh. The queen knows this. V-Lane has told her that he wants to find it for her so that she can use it to restore the walls of the Unseelie prison. That is surely true, but that is not his only motive; he is searching for the Sinsar Dubh because he believes the magic book will help him in his quest for power. Many Fae know this, but of course V-Lane must keep his true motives hidden. He must keep his real desires from the queen, so he deliberately misdirects Aiobheal's attention. He is using our human mates and children as scapegoats to that end."

"He has convinced Aiobheal that, even if they did not support the Unseelie King, human/Fae children are inferior and an insult to all Fae. He claims they pollute our bloodline and our magic. They have sent Fae warriors to hunt for our human wives, husbands and children to kill them, even though killing humans would break the covenant between humans and Fae. I had to hide Catriona and my daughters in a place where they would not think to look for them. I had to leave so I would not lead Aiobheal and V-Lane and the others to them. Fae are mighty trackers, and I could not take that chance."

Danal stepped up and embraced Sean. Sean stiffened for a moment, then he relaxed and embraced Danal back; they stood staring at each other. The two men who looked so much alike, they could be twins, stared deeply into each other's eyes. Slowly, a strong love filled Sean's heart for his grandfather. He knew Danal was telling the truth; and he knew his grandfather loved him.

Ryodan stated at Danal, Sean, Bridget, and then at Leni and back again. Anyone could see how much Sean looked like the hated Fae prince standing next to Leni. Everything made sense to Ryodan now. Understanding grew and blossomed in his mind like an unwanted weed and tortured him, making him feel unclean.

As he stood there, memories of Zayida filled his mind. He could see her laughing as they ran through a meadow with the wind blowing her dark hair around her face. He could see the look on her face as they made love. He could see the joy she felt when she told him she was carrying their son. She was a Druid princess, and she was full of magic. She knew from the moment she conceived, she was carrying a boy.

Fresh horror and grief filled him as he remembered the night, he saw Zayida's broken body, tortured at the hands of the Fae. Zayida had been raped, beaten and tortured; they had not cared that she was eight months pregnant. Unlike most human woman, she was conscious through it all as she was forced to know the indignity of becoming pri-yah and then made to suffer unspeakable pain at the hands of the Unseelie King.

Ryodan remembered the sadness in Zayida's eyes as she looked into his that night. He could see her life force fading before him, but she did not care about herself; she cared about him. She was grieved to know that he would never hold their precious son in his arms. Her grief was palpable; it was a living thing, and it was unforgettable. As he stood in Marty's Pub, Ryodan's heart and mind were overcome once more with the excruciating pain and unbearable loss he felt that night.

As he looked at Danal and Leni, he felt unclean; he was crazed by a strong sense of shame and guilt. How could he, a Draghar warrior, have fallen in love with a woman who had the blood of those Fae monsters in her veins? Why didn't he instantly know what she was? He had touched and loved her body; he had let her touch him. In doing so, he had betrayed Zayida, and his unborn son.

White hot anger ravaged him; then a fury as cold as his anger had been hot consumed him. He felt he had been tricked and betrayed now by Leni. When she reached out her hands to him, he roughly he brushed them away angrily and growled. "Don't touch me!.

His eyes conveyed only hate and rage. Hostility oozed from every pore in his body. Leni was at a loss for words; she had no idea why Ryodan was looking at her as if she were some loathsome creature.. "What is it, Ryodan? Tell me," she cried and reached out her hand to him again.

Ryodan actually slapped her hand away this time. He hissed in revulsion at her., "I said don't touch me! Don't you ever touch me again! You are an abomination, woman; you disgust me," he ground out.

"What?" Leni said; she was stunned by the vehemence of his words. She could feel the barely controlled violence in him.

"That Fae creature is your grandfather? You carry Fae blood in your veins? You knew this, and you didn't tell me? Fae killed my wife and my son; you are anathema to me. You bitch; you tricked me! I don't know how you did it, but somehow you must have glamoured me. I could kill you for that." he snarled at her. His voice rang with hate and a revulsion so deep, Leni couldn't bear to look at him. Ryodan cursed her loud enough for all the others, except Uncle Marty, to hear; they stood transfixed by what was happening.

Leni stood barely a foot away from Ryodan when she heard his words. Her eyes opened wide in pain and humiliation. She had no idea what he was talking about, and she was shocked at the vehemence and hatred in his voice. She felt like her heart was being torn out of her chest; her body seemed to constrict and grow cold; then she felt a white hot fury rising in her heart. She reached out and slapped Ryodan so hard across the face, her hand stung from the force of the blow.

"You bastard! I tricked you; I glamoured you? Get over yourself, Ryodan. It was you who pursued me, not the other way around. I was stupid for ever trusting you. I wouldn't let you touch me now if it meant the difference between life and death!" She said the words slowly, clearly, enunciating every syllable. Her voice was low, deadly, calm and colder than the arctic. At that moment, she felt ashamed and incredibly stupid for loving him. Her rage crystallized into a growing thrum of abhorrence for her weakness for the man who stood before her.

Leni's words seem to push Ryodan over the edge; he was irrational; he wanted to strike out and hurt someone, anyone. He wanted someone to feel the pain that he was feeling right now. He blindly reached out, his face a grimace of pain and grief. He wanted to make Leni eat her words. He stepped toward her, but she held her head up daring him to touch her. The gold cuff on her arm shrilled out a warning to Ryodan, but he was too far gone to hear it.

Danal and Sean both moved toward Ryodan at the same time, putting themselves between Leni and him. "Stay away from my granddaughter, you Draghar bastard, or you will die!" Danal hissed; his face was feral and frightening to behold. Sean shoved his cousin behind him echoing the same words. The look on the young man's face was almost as primitive as his grandfather's; the Fae blood in him was boiling and it was ready to kill.

"Leni is under my protection; if anything happens to her or my other grandchildren you will die, Draghar." Danal raged.

"Do you think you can kill me, fairy? Why don't you try?" Ryodan responded and stepped toward Danal. Like two ancient warriors of old, the two huge men were ready to kill each other. They squared off. Weapons suddenly appeared out of nowhere in their hands.

Both men seemed to grow bigger. Their faces and bodies glowed with powerful, inhuman, electric auras. Danal's was golden and light; Ryodan's was darker, but just as strong. The air around them was filled with the odor of their killing rage. The two men seemed to go into a trance; they saw only each other. It would be a fight to the death, and they both knew it.

Leni knew it too, and her head suddenly cleared. At that moment, she hated Ryodan more than she ever thought possible; she wanted him to feel as much pain as he caused her. Even so, she loved him and did not want him to die. She loved Danal, and she could not bear to see her grandfather die either. She moved around Sean and stepped between the two combatants and yelled, "Stop! Both of you. Tegan, please help me. Don't let them fight. They will kill each other," she cried out.

Tegan stepped in between the two huge males, using his Draghar magic, he pushed them apart. Danal and Ryodan shook their heads as if snapping out of the trance. Both of them stepped back. Leni ran to Danal's side and embraced him. She glared furiously at Ryodan. He glared back.

Shocked beyond words, Bridget looked up at Tegan. He had told her early in their relationship that he was not human, that he was Draghar. As she listened to Ryodan excoriate Leni, she could not help but wonder if Tegan felt the same way toward her. She'd seen the look of hatred and disgust in Ryodan's eyes and was afraid. She need not have worried.

Seeing the look on her face, Tegan instinctively slipped inside her mind; he knew what she was thinking. He moved to her again, cupped her chin and tipped it up. He kissed her softly on the lips. "I have always known there was something different about you, Bridget. I knew for sure you were Fae the moment I saw Sean. I knew Danal, and Sean looks so much like him, it was impossible for you not to be related. It does not matter to me in the least. I love you; I always will." he assured her quietly.

Ryodan reared back in surprise and shock. "You knew she carried Fae blood in her veins, and still you took her to your bed. How could you do that? They are all Fae abominations. The Fae are responsible for the death of my wife and my son, and for the deaths of so many others." he said to Tegan in disgust.

Danal shouted loudly, "No. That was not Seelie Fae; that was one of your own, Draghar! It was the Unseelie King, and his creations. The Seelie never touched your women or your families, but Seelie like myself also lost our wives and loved ones to that monster. He killed our human woman and children shortly after he killed yours, including my wife. She was a cousin to your Zayida; she was my first soul mate; did you not know that? I and the others have hunted the king for two thousand years, and we are still hunting him now. We will find him and kill him for what he has done!" Danal raged as he moved again toward Ryodan, but Tegan was there first with his huge fist raised and drawn back ready to strike Ryodan.

"Don't ever say that about my woman again, Ryodan. She is not responsible for what happened, and neither is Leni nor Sean. She is not responsible for what the Unseelie King did. Friend or not; Draghar or not; I will kill you. I don't care that Bridget is part Fae. She is my soul mate, and I love her. I would kill for her. I would die for her." Tegan growled fiercely at Ryodan. Now it was Ryodan and Tegan, who squared off ready to fight. Leni and Bridget begged them both to stop, and eventually they both stepped back.

Bridget was not to be appeased by Tegan and Danal's defense of her. She was still astonished, hurt and angry at the news she had just learned. She turned to Danal and asked, "If you are our grandfather, why haven't Sean and I met you before? Why have you shown yourself to Leni, and not Sean and me. My mother said you were dead. My grandmother said you were dead. I still don't understand any of this."

"I was there the night you were born Bridget, as I was with your mother and aunt Sarah. I was there when Leni and Sean were born too. I have visited your grandmother as often as I could, but I could never stay long. At those times, your mother and aunt could never see me. Catriona said they did not inherit her sidhe seer gift; they could not see through the Fae glamour. Cat told me later that Leni was a sidhe seer, and that was only before her fifteenth birthday. I did not know until tonight that you were a sidhe seer also, Bridget. Sometimes the gift comes late, so perhaps I should have known, but I did not," he said sadly.

"Is that why you didn't you show yourself to me?" Sean asked.

"Males cannot be sidhe seers, but I knew that eventually you would be able to see me, Sean. You have powerful Fae magic in you, boy; even though it hasn't shown itself to you yet. I once planned to train you how to use that power, but only after you became aware of it. I could not show myself to you before you were ready. I would have only endangered you beyond your understanding. There are too many Fae here in Ireland. Most of my kind are like V-Lane; they want nothing more than your death. There are also others like that Unseelie abomination and the Draghar, who would kill you too. I could not take that chance, Sean. I am sorry, my grandson, but I am so happy to have met both you and Bridget tonight, and I am happy to see Leni once again."

Bridget insisted; she was burning with jealousy and hurt that Leni had the chance to meet their grandfather and not her or Sean, "But you showed yourself to Leni. Why her, and not I. It was you who gave her the bracelet she wears, wasn't it?"

Danal's voice was full of anguish as he tried to explain. "Yes, I gave her the cuff. It carries a powerful Fae protection spell. Your grandmother told me that Leni saw the Fae in Dublin when she was last here. I felt she needed extra protection, so I gave her the cuff. There is something else; I knew from the moment you were born that you were this Draghar male's soul mate." He pointed to Tegan.

"While I would not have chosen a Draghar for you, Bridget, I know he is your destiny. His magic is different and stronger than mine. I have always known he could protect you better than I ever could, granddaughter."

He continued, "Tegan, the walls of the Unseelie prison are weakening; I and other Seelie Fae are hunting these monsters to kill them before they do their damage. I was on the trail of the one that appeared here tonight. I know you love my granddaughter. You are her soul mate, and for that I know you to be a good man. Will you take Leni and Sean under your protection, too? Now that this Draghar knows what they are, will you keep them safe from the others of your kind? I know now that I will not be able to train Sean as I hoped. Will you teach him what he needs to know? Will you teach him how to use his magic wisely? His Fae magic will be more powerful than any Druid magic. He must be taught how to use it properly."

Tegan nodded silently.

Turning to Ryodan he said scornfully, "Tegan is a good man, but you I do not know. You have professed disgust and loathing for Leni, but you are a fool because you know in your heart what she really is to you. You fight it, but you know."

"There is a battle for the very existence of this world on the horizon, and yet you do not seem to be aware of it. Instead, you waste your time wishing to reverse time, wishing to bring back your wife and son who are both long dead. Zayida was a good woman, but she was not your soul mate. Leni is. It is true that you suffered a terrible loss, but that must be forgotten now if this world is to survive."

"I know that all three of my grandchildren have Fae magic. They can help you in this battle if you let them, especially Sean. I and other Seelie nobles will fight along side you too, but only if you leave my grandchildren alone. If you harm any of them, I will find a way to destroy you." Danal fiercely said.

"Fae lies, all of it. I do not believe a word that you have uttered. You are trying to trick me, but I won't let that happen." Ryodan declared.

Danal flickered, "The Fae have my scent. I must be gone. Goodbye, my beloved grandchildren." his voice echoed and faded as he disappeared. The five of them stood staring at the spot where he stood.

Bridget truly believed now that Danal was their grandfather, but fact that Leni had known about him and kept this information from her hurt in a way she could not grasp. She loved Leni; they had always been closer than most sisters, but she felt that Leni had lied and betrayed her trust all these years. The secret Leni kept from them was so enormous that Bridget didn't know if she could ever forgive her cousin. Anger throbbed hotly in her veins; she suddenly felt dizzy and weak. Her knees buckled, but Tegan held her tight.

"All these years, you knew. You knew, and you kept it from Sean and me. All these years you lied to us. I will never forgive you for this. Go home, Leni. I don't want a liar at my wedding. I will never forget this, ever!." Bridget's face twisted in fury.

Sean spoke up, "Bridget, no! Please don't say that. I don't like the fact that Leni kept this secret from us, but I understand. Please don't send Leni away; we can work this out." he put his arms around his smaller cousin.

"No. I won't have that liar at my wedding; I just won't have her; I don't think I can ever look at her again." Bridget was in tears now too; she was shaking. Tegan took her in his arms and held her tightly. He could feel the pain and betrayal she felt.

With Ryodan and Bridget, the two of the people she loved most in this world, looking at her with such obvious disgust, hatred and betrayal, Leni was undone, but she held her head high. Tears threatened to come, but she refused to cry.

Tegan looked at her with pity in his eyes. He felt sorry for the small blonde, but his pregnant soul mate, Bridget, had to be his concern now. He stroked her back to calm the deep sobs that wracked her slim body. He nodded gently at Leni; his eyes conveyed a world of sympathy and worry.

Leni nodded back; she could see the delicate emotional state her cousin was in, and she was afraid for the baby she carried. She did not want to make things any worse. She knew what she had to do. "No, Sean; it's better if I go home now. I will catch a plane back to the States tomorrow. May I use your motorcycle to get to the gatehouse? I will leave it there. You can pick it up tomorrow." she said.

"I'll be glad give you a ride, Leni, but please don't go. I can talk Bridget out of this; I know I can." Sean said as he stepped toward her.

"Not this time, Sean; she's too hurt and upset; I don't want to hurt the baby. I know she will eventually forgive me, but it will take time. Please stay; Bridget needs you with her now. I'll be okay; I'll call you in a few days. I promise."

Sean gave her the key. Leni put her jacket on and walked toward the front door. Finally, silent tears came. She felt cold and dead inside. She never felt more lost and alone in her life.

Ryodan watched Leni as she walked out. He could see how vulnerable, and alone she felt, but he didn't care. He could easily sense her heartache and pain; but his heart was hardened against her. His heart was too filled with his own grief, anger and pain. He hated her Fae blood, and he never wanted to see Leni Hammond again.

On Sunday, two days later, Tegan and Bridget were wed in the elaborate ceremony they had planned. They exchanged the Druid marriage vows that bound their souls together for eternity. The words were said in both Gaelic and English. Uncle Marty closed his pub for the reception; the place was packed.

Bridget made an excuse for Leni's absence. She explained to her parents and family that Leni's fiance, Philip, had been seriously hurt in an accident in New Jersey, and that she had no choice to go to him. Since her parents had not known that Leni and Philip broke up more than two months before, the excuse was plausible. Sean kept silent on the subject.

Ryodan attended the ceremony, but he was quiet and left before the others. After leaving the reception, he went home and shifted to his beast form. Slipping through a portal they had created to another world, the beast within him raged for days. He went on a killing spree, slaughtering and eating his fill.

When he returned through the portal, the grief, the hate and the rage was gone, in its place was a cold, dead feeling. He felt lost and alone without Leni. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop wanting her; he could not keep her out of his mind.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors note: Warning: this is a tough, unpleasant chapter, but it has a purpose that will become clear later.

* * *

Chapter 13

Leni did not remember the motorcycle ride from Uncle Marty's pub to the gatehouse. Her mind was roiling with confusion and pain. The events that occurred barely an hour ago at the pub replayed over and over in he mind. She felt horror as she remembered the Unseelie attack, then felt numb and drained as she remembered Ryodan's words; they just didn't make sense. She did not know what he was talking about; he had never mentioned being married, or that his wife had been raped and murdered. Accusing her and grandfather for what happened just because of their Fae blood was outrageous and made her angry. Tears rolled down her face, only to quickly evaporate in the cool night air.

It was almost eleven when Leni got to the gatehouse; the first thing she did was call to change her flight from Monday to Saturday. It wasn't as hard as she expected, but due to such short notice, she was only able to get a seat in economy class. That was okay with her; it was the way she was used to flying. She was entitled to a refund of more than $2,000 due to the difference in ticket price; she gave them Bridget's name and address to send the check.

Having taken care of her travel plans, she packed her belongings, leaving the beautiful Maid of Honor dress that Bridget had bought hanging in the closet along with the shoes and other accessories. She would have no use for the dress and hoped that her cousin would be able to get her money back on that too. Bridget had given her an expensive diamond and amethyst bracelet as her Maid of Honor gift; she left that as well on the dresser in the bedroom.

In the living room, she grabbed a shot of Irish whiskey from the bar and sat down on the sofa; she downed it quickly. The liquor scalded as it slid down her throat, but it didn't make her feel any better. She thought about taking several more shots and getting drunk, but she wasn't a drinker and decided against it.

For more than two hours, she had held her emotions in check as she dealt with the airline and packed; now she could no longer hold back. Laying down on the sofa with her head on a soft cushion, she let herself go. Loud, wracking sobs convulsed her small body. She ached for having hurt Bridget, but she mourned the loss of Ryodan even more.

She must have lain that way for a while when her grandfather appeared in a flash of light next to her. Danal pulled Leni onto his lap and held her while she cried. He didn't try to stop her. He rocked with her on his lap the way any parent would have to comfort a crying child. Leni felt his love more than ever. He made soft soothing sounds and rubbed her back as he whispered words in his own language to her. Leni leaned her cheek against his broad chest and took the solace he offered. Finally, the storm inside her subsided.

Danal began to talk. "I lost my trackers in Faery, but I will not be able to stay long. Don't judge Ryodan too harshly, Leni. He loves you, but he is out of his mind with grief right now. Seeing me must have brought it all back." He held her hand as he explained in detail what happened to Zayida and the others.

"More than two thousand years ago, my wife, Alanna, was Zayida's cousin; she lived in another village a few miles from the Draghar village. Since I came to Earth, humans have always fascinated me. I had several human wives by that time and many children by them. However, since I do not age, at some point I always had to leave my family, or they would have been ostracized by their village. I was wandering from village to village when I met Alanna on the road one day. She was a healer and was returning from midwifing the delivery of a child in another village nearby."

"I was struck by Alanna's beauty. I immediately felt a most strange attraction to her of a sort that was much deeper than I ever felt for my other human mates. I was drawn to her on an elemental level, as if she were a part of my very being, and I could not live without her. I did not understand that because I had loved my wives dearly. I had no idea that I could love someone even more."

"She was a sidhe seer, and she knew immediately what I was, but it didn't matter to her; she felt the same sort of elemental attraction to me. I stayed in her village, courted and married her, as if I was a human male. Since I am Fae, I was able to pay a bride price that was much larger than any other man who was interested in her; my gold made her father the richest man in their village. By this time, Ryodan had married Zayida, who was already pregnant with his child."

"Of course, I never met Ryodan. He would have known immediately that I was Fae, and more than likely, he would have tried to kill me. Because the Fae were considered mortal enemies of the Draghar, when Alanna and I were married, I took her to live in another village on the northern coast of Ireland about twenty miles away. There I lived as a human male with his wife, and she got pregnant."

"It was there that I learned from Alanna that she and I were soul mates. We exchanged the Druid binding vows before a month had passed. Before then, I had never even heard of the concept of soul mates; it is a truly wonderful thing. Alanna's soul has lived on in three others, including my Catriona. All four of my soul mates were separate individuals with different looks and personalities. They were not the same person, and I never confused them as such, but they all had the same eternal soul. I loved each of them as only a soul mate can love, but I loved my Catriona most of all; I think I always will."

"Although the Unseelie had been imprisoned thousands of years before, the Unseelie King created many more to serve him. When Zayida and the others were killed, eventually a runner came to our village and told Alanna what happened to her cousin. It was then that we learned that she and the others had been raped repeatedly and made pri-yah by his new Unseelie creatures before they were tortured and killed by the Unseelie King himself. I did not know at that time that he had also slaughtered most of his Draghar warriors in an act of revenge for supporting another Zigor warrior against him."

"Of the hundreds of Draghar males who came Earth thousands of years before the Fae, only nine survived. Ryodan is one; Tegan is another. Zigor, the one who calls himself Jericho Barrons, was the husband of the king's concubine, and he is also Draghar. He and the other Draghar tried to rescue his wife from the king, but she died in the attempt."

"I left the next day for Faery to seek an audience with the queen. I wanted her to pursue the king and have him killed for his actions. I did not care about the Draghar, but Alanna begged me to do something about her cousin's murder. Aiobheal only laughed. She was afraid of the king, and she did not want to risk other Fae because of some mere human women and children."

Danal's voice rang with hatred. "The Unseelie King was not done with his quest for vengeance. When I got back, I found Alanna dying; she told me what had happened: the king had sent his Unseelie monsters for her; they raped and made her pri-yah too. Then the king came, and he tortured her. Later, I found out that he killed the human wives and families of all Fae like myself."

"None of my human descendants survived his savagery, but he had sought Alanna out, in particular. He wanted to make sure her death was even more painful than the others. He was aware that I was considered a leader among the other Fae, who chose to live here on Earth. He knew that I was trying to put a stop to him and the Great Hunt; of course he could not tolerate either."

"For hundreds of years, we had tried to convince Aiobheal to stop V-Lane and other Fae from conducting the Great Hunt. Even though it was forbidden by the compact with humans, many Fae hunted humans anyway and turned them pri-yah. Using Fae magic, they addicted to them sex while they raped them in every way imaginable. Once pri-yah, the humans were nothing more than mindless animals living only for sex. They eventually went insane and died."

"Fae don't have to do this, but once they found out that they had the magic power to do so, it was like feeding a banquet to a starving man; they gorged themselves without any thought for for their human victims. V-Lane and the other Fae found that this horrible practice gave them so much sadistic pleasure, they could not resist. Most Fae are hedonistic by nature, and many desire pleasure even more than food. I and other Fae, who had human families and wanted to put a stop to this barbaric practice, were considered traitors to the Fae."

His words reminded Leni of the beautiful woman who was undressing and touching herself in front of an extremely handsome man at the Dublin airport when she was fifteen. The man proceeded to have sex with her on the terminal floor, but no one but her and Gran seemed to notice. When she asked why no one was trying to stop them, Gran looked frightened and hurried her away, telling her sharply not to say anything. "No one can help her. She is pri-yah now." Gran said mysteriously, but Leni did not know what that meant at the time. That must be what Gran meant when she told Danal that she was a sidhe seer; she knew now that the beautiful man molesting the woman was Fae.

Danal continued, "The Unseelie King, who was actually a Draghar warrior himself, found great pleasure addicting humans to sex too. Once he learned Fae magic, he learned how to make women pri-yah, but found that he got even more pleasure from watching it happen, then killing the humans afterward. I am sorry to say that many of the Fae deserved the Draghar warrior's hatred and scorn; many of us are very corrupt and evil beings, but not all of us are."

"The Fae took special pleasure in hunting the wives of the Draghar since most of them were sidhe seers, but their own king's appetite for the hunt was even greater than the Fae. He led many hunts himself and was crueler than my brethren. He deserved their hatred even more, but they did not try to stop him until he stole Zigor's wife and held her as a prisoner on Faery."

"The Unseelie King's spies in Aiobheal's court told him that I was there, and that I wanted her to punish him for what he had done to Zayida and the others. He went mad. After finishing with the Draghar warriors and their families, he went after the families of Fae that he considered as traitors too. He went after Alanna." Very human-like tears covered the big fairy's face as he wept from the painful memories.

"We went wild after we found out what happened, just like the Draghar. We pursued the Unseelie king, but he had hidden himself well. We pursued and slaughtered the Unseelie monsters who had helped him. We were just as savage as the Draghar; we showed them no mercy, but we did not rape and kill innocent women and children like the Draghar did. We continue to hunt the king and his Unseelie abominations to this day."

"Who are the Draghar?" Leni asked. Danal explained everything to her. Gran had told her about the Fae, but she had not said anything about a race of immortal shape shifters that was much older and more powerful than the Fae. Their magic was much more powerful too. She wondered how that was even possible.

"Tonight, you said that I was Ryodan's soul mate, but I don't love him. I don't want him as my soul mate, so how can that be? You said that you knew Tegan was Bridget's soul mate the day she was born. Did you know the same thing about Ryodan when I was born too?" Leni asked.

"No. I believe I knew Tegan was Bridget's soul mate only because I knew him for thousands of years, but as I said, I never met Ryodan before tonight. When I first saw him, I knew immediately that you two are soul mates and are destined to be together. You both deny it now, but he knows. I think that deep inside you know it too. You may hate him right now, but you know you also love him."

Danal started to flicker; he stood and embraced Leni. "The Fae are near, I must go soon, but you must listen to me, granddaughter. You think Ryodan has hurt you earlier tonight, and you hate him for that right now,but he will hurt you even more. I don't know when, but it will happen soon. For your sake, I wish I could stop it from happening, but I cannot," he said sadly.

"You must know this, Leni; Ryodan will not be in his right mind when he does this terrible thing to you. He will relive the night that he found Zayida dying, and it will drive him to the brink of insanity. It will be his terrible grief and pain that make him hurt you. He will suffer great remorse and sadness for his actions. It is important that some day you find it within yourself to eventually forgive him."

Leni stared at her grandfather; confusion and denial shown in her eyes. Danal shook her lightly. "Listen to me now, Leni. Your grandmother was not the only one who saw the future; I do too. Hers was the stronger gift, but your second sight comes from both of us. I know that from out of the pain Ryodan will cause you, you will know great joy. Trust me on this; he is your soul mate; he is your destiny. He loves you, and you must not forget that. No matter what happens, you are my blood, and you are strong enough to withstand what will come. You will survive and be happy one day. Remember that." Danal hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. He mumbled something as he touched her forehead, flickered once more and was gone.

Since her flight was scheduled to leave Dublin for London at eleven o clock the next morning; Leni took a shower and went to bed. At 2am, a rough pounding on the front door woke her. She could barely move and her head ached badly, but thinking that something may have happened to Bridget or her baby, she ran to the door and opened it.

Ryodan stood there, anger and violence radiating from every pore; his eyes looked manic. Pushing the door open with one big hand, he threw her over his shoulder, closed the door and locked it. He strode into the bedroom and put her down on the floor holding her firmly with one hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Leni screamed at him.

Without saying a word, he reached out with the other hand, grabbed her T-shirt at the neck and ripped it off of her. He ripped her panties off too. Leni stood in front of him naked as he unzipped his pants. His face was dark and hard; it was a mask of anger, grief and hate. His eyes were as black as obsidian stone; they were pitiless and merciless. Leni remembered Danal's warning; she had no doubt at all what Ryodan planned to do.

She scrambled off the bed and made a beeline for the door, but Ryodan easily blocked her movements. She backed up to the wall; her heart was pounding wildly in fear. Ryodan stood fully dressed in front of the bed between her and the door; there was no escape.

"Get on the bed, Fae bitch. I want you to know how Zayida felt when your kind raped her. I want you to know her fear and her pain. I am going to do to you what your kind did to her. Zayida told me that she begged for them to stop, but they didn't. So scream, Leni, scream. I want to hear you beg me to stop."

Leni was frightened down to the marrow of her bone. She had never seen Ryodan like this, and the man in front of her terrified her on a primal level. She fought for self control and forced her fears to still. She knew that he was out of his mind with grief and pain, but she had to try and reason with him. She had to try to get through to him somehow and make him understand that what he was about to do was wrong.

"Ryodan, don't do this. I know you that you are in pain. You are not in your right mind now. I know what happened to your wife, and I am sorry for your loss. I am sorry for what happened to Zayida. No woman should have to go through what she did, but I am not responsible for it, and neither is my grandfather. I am leaving Ireland tomorrow; you will never have to see me again," she said as quietly and calmly as she could.

Ryodan stood in stony silence as if he hadn't heard a word she uttered.

Leni held her head high as she continued. "I know you are grieving terribly for her and your son, but what you are doing isn't going to bring her back. It's not going to make you feel any better. Don't do something you cannot take back." She wasn't begging; she was trying to reach the rational part of him. She did not believe Danal when he said Ryodan loved her, but she knew there was a part of him that cared for her. She had to believe that part still existed somewhere.

He didn't listen. With a snarl, he leaped and grabbed her. He roughly pushed her on the bed, and he was on her, pushing her legs apart. He was inside her, grunting from exertion as he moved in and out. He felt neither desire nor lust, only the intense need to cause this woman, who had Fae blood in her veins, pain.

Leni winced, and her face screwed up into a grimace each time he pushed his large erection deep inside her core. Her body bounced up and down like a boneless mannequin on the mattress from the force of his assault; her head rattled hard from the jolting it took. Her channel was dry, and the delicate skin inside tore from friction as he moved within her. She could feel blood trickle down her leg. She felt blood inside her mouth too as she bit her lip to keep herself from crying out.

At first, she tried desperately to shove him off, but he was too heavy. She tried to claw his face, but he grabbed both of her wrists, held them pinned above her head by one big hand, and kept pounding into her. She tried to bite him, but he held her down with the other arm, keeping her face away from him. Fighting the impulse to continue her useless efforts to fight him, she consciously directed her muscles to go as limp as possible.

Ryodan's body was throwing off tremendous heat; but an icy coldness enveloped Leni's body; she felt dizzy and strange. She felt her mind separate from her body as Ryodan strained over her, panting and grunting like a crazed animal. She felt as if she was floating above the bed looking down at what was happening. It didn't seem real to her; it seemed like a horrible nightmare.

Ryodan forced his mouth on hers; he shoved his hard tongue deep into her mouth until she almost gagged. The kiss was rough, but as his tongue touched hers, her mind suddenly exploded, and she was inside his mind. She saw everything that her grandfather explained to her earlier, only she saw it through Ryodan's eyes. She saw Zayida's tortured body as he lay dying in Ryodan's arms. She heard Zayida whisper her love and sorrow to him. She saw the light of life fade from her eyes.

Leni was swamped with Ryodan's grief, pain and rage. She felt his emotions as deeply as if they were her own. A dichotomy existed inside her now: her mind hated Ryodan for what he was doing to her, but her heart wept for his loss and his grief. She hated him and loved him at the same time. She felt compassion for him, yet she wondered if he deserved his pain. These conflicting emotions warred within her, until finally one of them won. Her mind blazed with hatred and fury; she pushed those emotions at him with all the force her mind could muster. She saw him blink and recoil in surprise.

Finally, it was over; he came hard, calling out, "Zayida, my love. I am so sorry!" He rolled off her panting as he did. The moment Ryodan was off of her, Leni rolled off the bed and backed up against the wall. She stood immobile for a moment; her body was numb; she didn't feel that much physical pain, but her mind reeled from what had just happened.

Ryodan sat up on the edge of the bed and stared at Leni with empty eyes. He saw her blood and his seed on her legs. He still tasted her blood in his mouth. He saw the look of betrayal and immense hurt in her eyes. He had felt her deep inside his mind, but he was in hers just as deeply. He had felt both her hate and her love, but he also felt her compassion. He felt her battling emotions, but he knew the moment that hate had won out.

Worst of all he felt the horror and betrayal Leni felt as someone she loved raped her; it was a feeling that was almost beyond comprehension; he was deeply ashamed and appalled by what he had done to her. He had never known or cared how the women he had raped long ago felt during the assault, but now he did. That knowledge sickened and disgusted him. It was a knowledge that would torment him forever; it made him feel like the savage beast he was.

Leni stood naked and bloodied before him, but she was not cowed. She drew herself as tall as her petite body would allow. Despite everything, she looked more regal than a queen. She said quietly. "My grandfather was here tonight. He explained what happened to Zayida and your son. He told me about the Unseelie King and the creatures he made who raped your wife. He said that the Unseelie King killed your wife, but that he was actually a Draghar. Is that true?" Ryodan's silence was all the confirmation she needed.

"Grandfather also said we are soul mates, but surely he is wrong because I hate you so much I burn. Grandfather says that I must forgive you, but I can't. I don't think that I will ever forgive you for what you've done to me. I don't know if I will ever want to."

"You hate the Fae, and you wanted to break me tonight, but you didn't. I don't break that easily, Ryodan. If you need to assign guilt, look in the mirror. The monster that caused your wife's death was one of your own; he was Draghar." Her voice was calm, too calm; it had an unearthly, eerie quality to it. Ryodan knew she was suffering from shock.

"I won't ask for your forgiveness, Leni. I don't want it. I don't want anything from you now. I don't want to ever see you again." Ryodan said softly. His face and eyes radiated with his shame and remorse. His hatred for the Fae and for Leni's Fae blood was still alive and still burned fiercely within him, but he knew in his heart that she did not deserve what he had just done to her. He also knew every word she said was true. The Draghar were ultimately responsible for the Unseelie King because they did not kill him after he became so corrupted by Fae ways.

Leni could feel his genuine remorse, but she didn't care. She wanted him to hurt as much as she did.

"Tell me, Ryodan; are you satisfied now? Will Zayida and your son's ghosts rest easier now? Grandfather said that Zayida was a good woman. He said you killed many Unseelie afterward, but he said that you also raped and killed innocent Fae women and their children to avenge her death. Would Zayida have been proud of you for what you did to them? Would she be proud of you for what you have done to me?" she asked in her odd, calm voice.

He visibly winced when she said that. Zayida would have been horrified by what he had done. She was the kindest, gentlest person he had ever known. Even though she was a Druid priestess, she was the only true pacifist he had ever known. She believed that violence was never the way to avenge a wrong. As a Druid, she believed that nature sought balance, and whatever harm you did to others always came back to you even more.

"Go! Get out! I pray to God that I never have to see your face again." Leni whispered brokenly as she turned and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

As Ryodan turned to go, he knew that Leni was right. His heart was still full of grief, rage and hatred for the death of his wife, Zayida. His actions tonight had not eased his pain in the slightest. In truth, he felt much worse than he did before; he now felt an encompassing grief for losing Leni too, and he felt shame and guilt for hurting her. Now, he would live with that guilt forever as well.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Sea Isle City five weeks later.

Leni lay on a beach chair in front of her grandmother's house on the far side of the skinny island. It was her house now, and she had moved from Old Bridge only the weekend before. It was eight in the morning and the Atlantic Ocean sparkled like a jewel under the bright morning sun. The effect of the sun on the water almost blinded her.

The beach was already packed with tourists trying to take advantage of the warn, May weather. The season had started over Memorial Day weekend and multicolored umbrellas, and blankets dotted the small stretch of sand in front of her home. Locals and tourists rode the crests of waves on surfboards; the happy sound of children filled the air.

The weather report predicted that the day would be hot, but the cooling Atlantic Ocean breezes would keep it at least five degrees cooler than the mainland. Still, she could not stay out much longer; her skin burned too easily. She also had to get ready for a job interview on the mainland early this afternoon. She stretched and rubbed a little more suntan oil on her skin.

Leni was in a reflective mood this morning as she had been for days. She thought back to that last night with Ryodan. Much of it seemed cloudy and unreal. Her heart and mind had seemed frozen and numb for weeks, but the ice had slowly started to melt and needle like pains pricked her heart. The big muscle in the center of her chest felt like a frost bitten limb that had been suddenly thrust into scalding water. The torment she felt was terrible, but she was learning to cope.

She had arrived back in Old Bridge on Sunday, the day that Bridget and Tegan were married. She found a phone message from Sean giving her the excuse that Bridget had told their parents. He and Bridget had decided not to tell their mother, Diana, about Danal because they thought she would be too hurt by the news that her father was still alive. "Besides," Sean said, "Mother can't see him anyway, so what is the use of telling her?"

Leni drew in a hurt breath when she heard that excuse. Apparently, it was not a problem for Bridget to keep the secret from her mother. Why couldn't Bridget understand that she had no choice in keeping the secret from her? Gran and Danal had both said it was a matter of life and death.

Sean kept saying how sorry he was about Bridget, and that he loved her. He was sure that his sister would come to her senses soon, but Leni wasn't so sure. Bridget could be as stubborn as a mule once she got something stuck on something. One time she got so mad, she didn't talk to her for almost six months; Leni couldn't even remember what that was all about.

The trip home had been long, and Leni was depressed and exhausted. She took a shower, fell into bed and slept for almost a day and a half days, waking only to go to the bathroom and grab a bowl of cold cereal. She had no milk in the refrigerator, so she ate it dry. Finally, on Monday, she made herself get up and get dressed.

Shirley Clark, the neighbor across the hall, brought her mail to her; she had given her mailbox key to Shirley before she left. Shirley knew that the beautiful model, Bridget McDonald, was Leni's cousin, and her sixteen year old granddaughter thought Bridget was just the "bomb." She was dying to hear the news about the wedding so she could tell her granddaughter, and brought Leni a Starbucks latte and a pumpkin muffin. She was ready to settle in for a nice long chat, but Leni was in no mood for company. Shirley was disappointed, but when she saw that Leni was distressed, so she got the hint and left.

Throughout the next five weeks, Leni grieved over Bridget, but she refused to let herself think about Ryodan while she was awake. Night time was an entirely different matter, however; Leni often woke up dreaming about making love with Ryodan before the "incident" as she referred to it in her mind. Whenever this happened, she ruthlessly pushed his memory away, or forced herself to think about about that night.

Soon after returning home, Leni's life underwent a major change. Her job at Raritan Bay Hospital was eliminated due to budget cuts that had hit most of the hospitals in Central New Jersey. When she opened her mail that Monday, she found the unwelcome notice from Human Resources at the hospital explaining the severance package that those being laid off would receive. Emails and phone messages from friends who worked with her at the hospital confirmed that Raritan Bay was going to lay off more than fifty employees at the Old Bridge facility. Most of them would be nursing staff like herself. She was the last one hired in the ER; she was sure she was on the list.

When she returned to work the following Monday, Della Grant, her boss, called her into her office and gave her the official notice. Ten friends, who were nurses in the ER or other areas were on the hit list too. The following Friday would be their last day on the job. Because she had less than two years seniority, she would receive a month salary as severance and unemployment after that. Della wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for her to help her find a new position.

Philip Roberts, her ex-fiance, was safe; his job was not eliminated. Philip had come to her apartment twice that first week after he found at that she returned. Both times, she refused to let him in, and both times, he had made a scene. The second time, she informed him that she had met someone in Ireland who was going to visit in a couple of weeks. "If I tell Ryodan that you are bothering me, he will beat your head in, so stay the hell away from me," she bluffed before she called the cops.

She could feel the anger seething below the surface in her ex-fiance. She sensed a violence that she had never felt in him before. After the "incident," she was determined never to let an angry violent man get her alone anywhere if she could help it. The handsome, blonde male had insisted that she let him in and "talk things over." She bluntly refused to let him inside.

"We have nothing to talk about, Philip. I don't want to talk to you. I just want you to leave me alone, don't you get that?" His continuing harassment made her hate him even more than Ryodan; at least Ryodan didn't continue to bother her, or try to make her life hell.

That was enough for her neighbor Frank, The Crank. He threatened to sick his new dog on Philip, a pit bull that looked ready to tear someone's leg off. Frank complained to the landlord again. On Friday, a second letter that affected her life arrived: her landlord gave her official notice that she had ninety days to vacate her apartment. As she stood with the letter in her hand, Leni was glad that she had not sold the house in Sea Isle City. At least she had a place to go.

Gran's small restaurant was still on the market. She had worked many summers for her grandmother and could run the small place blindfolded. If push came to shove, she would do just that, but that was really the last thing she wanted to do. She preferred to work in her chosen profession, nursing.

Two and a half weeks after she came home, Leni realized that her period was late. She had ignored the signs in her body, the tiredness, the aching muscles, the tender breasts and bouts of almost nausea. She had simply blamed these signs on her depression, but the circled date on the calendar on the kitchen wall could not be ignored. She was two days late. She bought a pregnancy kit that day, and the next morning, the little blue tube had a big "+" on it, confirming what she already knew.

The first emotions that she felt were fear and anxiety. She wondered how she would manage alone and without a job, but after a few minutes, she calmed down and stiffened her spine. Her grandmother had raised two twin daughters without a husband under much tougher circumstances, and she could do the same thing, it she had to. She was in a much better position financially. She had some money saved and her trust would be available to her in a couple of years. She just had to find a job that provided good medical benefits for her and the baby. There was nothing available in Middlesex or the surrounding counties. She hoped she would have better luck in South Jersey.

Leni reproached herself for being careless enough that she let herself get pregnant. She had always been so careful with birth control in the past; she did not trust prophylactics and was on the pill. She had not taken her birth control pills since she returned home; she didn't think it was necessary. Just the thought of being with another man made her feel sick.

Opening the small pink compact that held her monthly supply of birth control pills, she realized saw that she had forgotten to take her pill the night of the "Incident." She usually took it just before she went to bed, but that night she was too upset, and she hadn't thought about taking the pills for three days. The realization that that she must have became pregnant the night of the "incident" crawled up her spine. For a few seconds, it sent a fresh rush of hate and anger toward Ryodan through her, then curiously, the hate and anger dissipated.

She hadn't told anyone what had happened that night, and she never would. She did want to let Bridget know that she was pregnant. She knew the happy couple were long since back from their honeymoon and called Bridget's cell phone. Her cousin did not answer her cell, so Leni left a general message asking her to call back, but Bridget never did; she never returned any of the other calls made before or after either.

Both Sean and Tegan called her on her cell phone regularly to see how she was doing, but Bridget was still apparently caught up in her hurt and anger. Her cousin could not see the irony in the fact that she decided to withhold knowledge of Danal's existence from her mother, his only living human daughter, but that was Bridget. Her cousin was often too blind to see the forest for the trees, but Leni believed that Bridget would soon want to talk to her about her baby, if for nothing else.

Leni had told Sean about her job and eviction notice, but she asked him not to say anything to Bridget or anyone else. "I'll tell everyone when I'm ready," she said. Sean agreed to her request. She didn't tell her young male cousin that she was pregnant.

He was very excited. Bridget and Tegan had asked him to come and live with them, and he readily moved from the small two bedroom apartment he shared with his college mates; he had a wing of his own at Tegan's estate. His brother in law had started to train him in the art of self defense; he also started training him how to use his magic. Sean had not liked Tegan when he first met him, now Leni could tell that her younger cousin had a serious case of hero worship going on for the big Draghar, and she was happy for him.

When he called, Tegan began to drop subtle hints about Ryodan. "You both thought that we didn't know that you two were seeing each other, but it was so obvious that it was funny. Ryodan is sorry for what he said that night; I know he is. He frequently asks about you. I think he misses you. He knows what he said and did was wrong. Can't you forgive him? I know he loves you, Leni. Danal is right, Ry is your soul mate." Tegan said.

Leni's heart fluttered a little when Tegan began to talk about Ryodan, but then she felt foolish. Both Danal and Tegan were wrong; she knew that Ryodan despised her. His actions that night had clearly shown that, but she didn't want to argue about it. She did not try to deny that she and Ryodan had been seeing each other, but she didn't believe the nonsense about them being soul mates. She let Tegan know that in no uncertain terms.

"I know you and Bridget are soul mates, but me and Ryodan...no way, Jose. I just don't believe that. Anyway, it's not about forgiving him, Tegan. I'm quite sure he didn't mean what he said that night in the pub. He was clearly not himself, and I know that he was grieving for his dead wife. I hold no hard feelings against him, but I'm dating someone else now, and I'm sure he is seeing someone else too. Ryodan and I had a lot fun that week, but we both knew it wasn't going last. It was bound to end when I left Dublin. It just ended a couple of days sooner than we expected, that's all." Leni casually lied. She was glad Tegan could not see the tears in her eyes as she reacted to hearing about Ryodan.

She hadn't told Tegan that she had lost her job at the hospital; she didn't want him to know that she had moved back to Sea Isle City, and she definitely didn't want him to know that she was pregnant. She didn't want him to worry about her, and she didn't want him to tell Ryodan. She had no idea what Ryodan would do if he found out that she was pregnant, and she did not want to find out. It was likely that he would find out sooner or later after she had the baby, but she did not want him to suspect that he was the baby's father.

As she sat on the beach this morning, she remembering Danal's visit that night. Her grandfather's words hit her full force. "...from out of the pain Ryodan will cause you, you will know great joy..." She realized that no matter how this pregnancy had come about, she wanted the little boy growing inside her now more than she had ever wanted anything in her life. She loved her unborn son; yes, it was a boy. She had known that since the morning she confirmed that she was pregnant; she didn't know quite how, but she was sure of it.

As she enjoyed the beautiful morning sunshine, she wondered if Danal had known what was going to happen? Had he known she would get pregnant that night? Is that why he insisted that she forgive Ryodan? Had he somehow made it possible despite the birth control pills; had he placed a magic spell on her that night when he touched her forehead as he mumbled words in his language? For some reason, she was sure he did, and she didn't know what to make of that.

She loved her grandfather very much, and the hate that she felt for Ryodan was lessening a little everyday. Sometimes she thought the baby inside her wanted her to forgive his father too. However, actually forgiving Ryodan for what he had done wasn't anything she could contemplate right now; it still hurt too much when she thought about it.

She stroked her still flat stomach and a vision of her son as a grown man played out in her mind. He would be as tall and big and dark as his father, but he would have her violet eyes, only rimmed with long black lashes, instead of dark brown ones. He would be a good, strong man, and he would be happy; she just knew it. As she placed her hand on her stomach, her son's tiny mind reached for hers for the first time. Leni was a little startled until she realized what was happening, and then she relaxed and smiled. She wondered if Bridget had felt her own son like this too.

She cradled her son's tiny mind in a warm cloud of love and happy vibes and began to sing to him. His wee developing body was much too small for her to feel physically, but she could swear that he was happy and purred at the sound of her voice. The light emanations from her son's mind reminded her of Ryodan's before the "incident." They were so warm and inviting and loving, and they reminded her that Ryodan had cared about her once. It was as if her unborn son was trying to reassure her somehow, and that made her feel wonderful; she loved her baby all the more.

A brief moment of sadness came over her before she pushed it away. She never wanted her son to know about the night he was created, or that his father despised her because of her Fae blood. It hurt to think that perhaps Ryodan would despise their son too. Even if he didn't, he would leave him for a son that had never been born. She never wanted her baby to know the pain of abandonment, so she never wanted Ryodan to find out that she carried his child. She had no clue what, if anything, she would tell the boy about his father.

Leni had no way of knowing, but Ryodan had come to her apartment door in Old Bridge less than an hour after she pulled out of the parking lot following the moving van that held her few belongings. He was in New York on business and wanted a chance to apologize to her, so he drove his rental car through the Holland Tunnel and down the New Jersey Turnpike. He didn't plan to ask her for forgiveness; he didn't think he deserved it. He just wanted her to know how sorry he was for what he had done.

A stout, middle aged, brunette woman was coming up the walk in front of Leni's old apartment as Ryodan stood and knocked on the front door. He looked through the thin curtains on the door window and could see that the apartment was empty of furnishings. "Are you looking for Leni?" the woman asked. Ryodan nodded and said hello.

"Oh you must be the new boyfriend from Dublin, huh?" The woman said smiling. "I'm Shirley Clark, and I live a across the hall. You just missed Leni. She's probably on the Garden State Parkway right now; I don't think she'll get to Sea Isle City for a while yet. She's following the moving van, and it will take longer than normal to get there."

"It's bad enough that she lost her job at the hospital, but that creep, Philip, made her lose her apartment too. He just kept bothering her and bothering her and making a scene. Frank who lives on the other side finally turned her in to the landlord, so they kicked her out. You know I'm glad you finally made it. Leni is a good girl, and maybe you can set that punk straight. I heard her tell him that you would beat the hell out of him if he harassed her again. Well, I know he hasn't come back since that night, but he's still bothering her on the phone. That guy needs a real beating. I hope you give him a good one." The woman grinned as she entered her own apartment.

Ryodan knew about Philip Roberts; he had investigated the guy and knew where he lived. He had discovered the doctor had several complaints against him from other women. He didn't have time to drive down to Sea Isle City since his flight was due to leave in three hours, but since it was Saturday morning, he took a chance that Philip was at home. Driving the few miles to Dr. Robert's apartment house, he did find him at home.

Philip answered the door after one knock. Ryodan pushed his way in and slammed Philip hard with his fist. The blow knocked out several teeth and propelled Philip back against a half wall that separated the entrance from the living room. Blood poured from his mouth. "So, you must be the new boyfriend," he sneered with false bravado.

Ryodan strode into the apartment and lifted the tall, blonde male up by the front of his shirt. Philip was a big man himself, but the Draghar warrior towered over him so his feet dangled helplessly inches off the floor.

"I am Ryodan. Don't ever go near Leni Hammond again, or you are dead. Remember that, punk!" He growled ferally, and Philip shook with fear. He knew Ryodan meant every word he said; he cried out sharply as his hip hit the pointed edge of the baseboard as the big man dropped him on the floor and walked out.

Dublin, a few days later.

Moira Harkness sat in a small booth in the back of Marty's Pub. She was waiting for James Doherty to join her; he was her latest conquest of several since we had stopped seeing Ryodan almost two months before. She did not like James very much; truth was she could barely tolerate his touch. James was a wealthy, still good looking, middle aged businessman with a slight paunch. He liked squiring beautiful women around town, and Moira knew that she was more beautiful than most. James had been half in love with her for years, even when she was with Ryodan, but she had never looked at him twice.

Normally, she would not be caught dead in a neighborhood pub like Marty's, but she knew Ryodan would be here tonight. She convinced James to join her here before they joined several more couples at a posh house party given by one of James' friends who lived nearby. He had business to attend and wanted to meet her at the party, but she said no. "I want us to arrive fashionably late together, darling," she told him. He was so gullible, he believed every word she said.

Moira knew that Ryodan stopped by Marty's almost every night for a drink. Sometimes he sat and talked with Marty McDonald, the owner. Sometimes he sat and spoke to Tegan, or Jericho Barrons, or one of the other tall, dark men like him. He always sat and watched a video of that little blonde bitch, Leni Hammond, as she sang with McDonald's band. Apparently, the owner had taped her and frequently played the video on the monitors over the bar on weeknights when the band did not play.

Moira now wished she had been nicer to the girlfriends of Ryodan's tall, dark friends. She wanted desperately to know what was going on in Ryodan's life right now. She had always considered herself better than the other women because she was with Ry for years, while they were all gone in weeks or months. She had been nasty and arrogant with them, now she wished that she had made an effort to be friendly. Perhaps they could have given her some news her about Ryodan.

Even though, she knew that Leni had gone back to the United States, Moira knew that Ryodan still wanted her. That made the redhead bitter; growing jealousy as corrosive as battery acid ate at her. It infuriated her that Ryodan still wanted that little nothing, and not her, the woman who had loved him for five, long years.

Moira knew that the two of them had been lovers for at least a week before Leni left Dublin. She had followed the two of them every night after Ryodan picked her up at the gatehouse on her uncle's estate. She found a seat well away from them in the pubs and restaurants and watched the two of them. Ryodan didn't paw her the way he sometimes did with other women. They laughed and talked together; Ry showed respect and caring for the little blonde.

Moira followed them back to his house or to the gatehouse. She sat outside in her car for hours as her heart felt like it was being torn in two. It killed her to see Ry's evident feelings for the woman. If she didn't know him better, she would have sworn that the man, who had claimed he could not love, loved that little bitch.

She had followed him again after he left Marty's on that last night before the blonde left Ireland. She sat hidden in her car underneath a large oak tree outside the McDonald estate's elaborate security fence and followed him home after he drove out of the large gate. Days later, she supposed something had happened when she discovered Leni had gone home the day before the wedding. It was strange, but Moira was happy about that; she thought for sure that Ry would come to his senses and take her back. Unfortunately that did not happen.

For a couple of weeks, Ryodan didn't seem to date anyone; he was moody and irascible. But soon the old Ryodan was back, screwing the daylights out of every beautiful woman he could, but he never once noticed her. That made her even more jealous, until she realized that he never saw any one woman more than once or twice. That gave her hope. She had spent a lot of time at Chester's and Marty's Pub during the first two weeks after Leni had left trying to get his attention, but he ignored her.

Finally, she approached him at the bar at Marty's. "I love you Ry; I don't know what I did wrong to make you turn away from me, but whatever it is I will fix it. I need you, and I want to be with you again. I know you're not happy without me. Please say you will take me back," she begged him.

There was a time when Ryodan would have simply turned his back and sneered when a human woman said this, but now he actually felt empathy for Moira's feelings. She had been with him for a long time, and he did not want to hurt her any more than he already had. "I know that you care about me, Moira, and I will always have some feelings for you, but I don't love you; I've been honest about that with you. It would not be fair to you if I let you think I will ever feel more than I do for you. It is time you found someone else," he said gently.

"It's because of her, isn't it? You still want that Leni Hammond, don't you? Oh, I know she led you on a merry chase for a while, but she's not here, Ry. I am. I know you two were lovers, but she was fucking that guy Denny at the same time, I am sure of it. She doesn't love you the way I do; she never did, or she would be here. She is not good enough for you; she can't make you feel as good in bed as I can, don't you see that?" Moira angrily exclaimed.

"It is I who is not good enough for her." Ryodan whispered softly, but Moira heard it. Her heart wrenched with pain and envy; she was enraged by that comment. "No. that's not true. I know that you're in love that little bitch, aren't you? God, how I hate her guts!" she added fiercely.

"Go now, Moira. I won't discuss my feelings for Leni with you. She is gone, and she is not coming back. That is enough for you to know," he said tiredly. Moira turned and ran from the the pub, but she continued to stalk Ryodan every night after that. He knew she was following him, even after she started dating other men. He knew he would have to do something, like wipe her mind of his memory soon, or she would get worse. He didn't know why he was reluctant to use his Draghar magic on her now, but somehow it just didn't seem right. Feeling Leni's emotions changed him somehow.

Over the last five weeks, he stopped hating Leni, or blaming her for her Fae blood. He hated himself instead; he felt disgusted and deeply ashamed of what he had done and wanted to let her know that. He had wanted to apologize to her that day in New Jersey, but she had already left for Sea Isle City.

He had earnestly tried to forget Leni, but he found himself more drawn to her, and thinking of her more than ever. He often went to bed thinking about Zayida, but it was always Leni's face that he woke up with every day. It was Leni's face and body he felt and saw when he was with the other women. He had even called out Leni's name several times during sex. He hadn't realized that he had done it until the women became angry or hurt. He sometimes felt like he was losing his mind.

He felt his love for Leni growing stronger every day. He knew that somehow, despite her Fae blood, she was replacing Zayida in his heart. The thought that he could forget about his dead wife and unborn son frightened and even angered him. He strengthened his resolve; he was even more determined to find the way to go back and bring Zayida and his son back to life. He would leave Leni alone. Besides, he reasoned, Leni deserved someone who would love only her, and that man could never be him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sea Isle City, late September,

It was 11:00am on a hot Monday morning when Leni walked out of the Wachovia Bank Branch on the Island; she was feeling great. She had just closed on the sale of her grandmother's restaurant and was almost $700,000 richer. Gran had put her name on the title so it was easier than she expected to sell the place. The sale had only taken three weeks from the time that she signed the contract with the new owner; it was an international company looking for property on the island.

The new owner paid cash and paid all her closing costs too. She got the price she asked for which was surprising since the building was in pretty bad shape. Leni wasn't going to argue about it; she hadn't been able to find another job, and she really needed the money for her and the baby. She was looking into getting a license and setting up her own visiting nurse practice.

A local lawyer representing the buyer handled everything on the company's behalf. She never met the buyer, but that was okay with her; she didn't need to. Tom Kelly, her grandmother's lawyer, handled her end and everything went smooth. Bob Jenkins the attorney representing the new owner said the old building was going to be torn down and a bigger, more modern one built on the site. The buyer wanted to build a nightclub. Leni knew the new club would do well during the tourist season, but not so well the rest of the year, but that wasn't her problem.

After two months of terrible morning sickness, Leni was feeling great and her skin glowed. No more nausea, but she rabidly craved liver and onions and chocolate ice cream, and she was in the mood for some now. She hated liver normally; she couldn't stand the sight of it, but now she liked it cooked rare with a mess of onions; she ate it several times a week. _At least, I don't crave dill pickles and chocolate ice cream, ugh!_ At least liver is good for me and the baby, she thought.

Her baby bump was typical for four and a half months. She was definitely showing, but she ate carefully and exercised. She was afraid to go to a regular doctor though, because she was sure they would find out that her baby was not even half human. She studied everything she could on pregnancy to update her own nursing knowledge and made sure she got the right vitamins for the baby's sake. She checked her blood pressure and watched for any unusual signs, but there were none.

She sat in her car debating where to go and eat lunch when her son started to purr. She both liked and disliked that; it felt good, but it got quite embarrassing at times. He purred loud enough for others to hear a couple of times in public too, but she covered it up quite nicely. She blamed it on her cell phone ring tone. "I just love cats." she exclaimed to a startled shopper in the supermarket one day as she reached into her jacket pocket and fished the phone out. She quickly flipped it open and began a phony conversation as she walked away with her shopping cart.

She was going to name her son "Ian Thor Hammond." She liked the name "Ian; she always had, but her son liked the name "Thor" even better. He purred when she called him that. Ian was an active baby. Right now he was kicking out so hard, it felt like a sledge hammer hitting her in the kidney. "Okay, Mighty Thor, you can put your hammer down now. Mommy needs that kidney," she joked lightly as she rubbed her stomach. She repeated it several times like a mantra. Ian settled down and started to purr so loud she could feel her stomach vibrate from the sound.

She began to smell lavender and a pleasant spicy scent in the car. Ian did that too. Whenever she was upset or uncomfortable, she became aware of a very soothing smell that always calmed her. Ian was her own little aromatherapy machine. He liked to make her think about Ryodan too; but he wanted her to have only good thoughts. When she remembered the night of the "incident," Ian squirmed and became tense, which in turn made her tense as well. The tension would last until she started thinking of the time "before," when Ryodan was very loving with her and she started to calm. She could feel delight in Ian's little mind as that happened. "Why, you little bugger," she laughed at him; his scent fill the air then.

"You and Danal and Tegan are all plotting against me, aren't you, Mighty Thor! Three against one isn't fair; you know that, don't you? Perhaps I will have to forgive him in order to have any peace, but that doesn't mean I will ever trust him again." she sighed as she rubbed her stomach.

Nope, she wasn't getting anywhere near a human doctor with a purring, smelly baby inside her stomach. She had no idea what the doctor would do to her, or to the baby. She contacted another woman on the island who was a friend of Gran's and acted as a midwife from time to time. At least Ian didn't purr around her...yet.

Yesterday, Tegan had called to check on her. He and Sean called as regular as clockwork now. She told them both in early July that she had lost her job, and she was back in Sea Isle City. Tegan wanted to send her money, but she refused, insisting that she was fine. She told him a week ago that she was closing on the restaurant today.

"The new owner gave me exactly what I asked; he didn't negotiate, and he's paying my closing costs. That's strange isn't it? Te, you didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, I didn't. I don't want to buy property in the U.S. I have more than enough over here," he replied. Tegan was telling the truth, but he knew full well who had bought the property: Ryodan was the buyer through a new company he had created just for that purpose. Tegan had his investigators do some research when Leni went into contract with the buyer; he wanted to find out who the buyer was, and if he had the money to pay. Ryodan had covered his tracks well, but not well enough to hide from his old friend, Tegan.

"Leni, Ry misses you; he loves you. I think you two need to talk. Why don't you come over for a visit?" He had asked her last night.

She had not told anyone in Ireland that she was pregnant, and she didn't want them to know until after Ian was born. There was no way that she was going to travel to Dublin while she was big with Ryodan's baby. "A visit sounds wonderful, Tegan. I would dearly love to see Bridget and Sean, but I'm trying to get my new business off the ground, so it's not convenient right now. By the way, did Bridget get the paintings and the photographs I sent her?" Leni asked deliberately trying to change the subject.

She had found an artist's leather carrying case with several paintings and sketches of Danal that her grandmother had made. One of the paintings was a nude with Danal laying with his upper body supported by one well muscled arm; the other arm lay casually over his groin. Danal's head was tilted back. His neck arched, and his glorious sun-kissed chocolate hair fanned out behind him. He had a seductive smile on his face, and his copper eyes were heavy lidded with passion and filled with love.

Leni had not realized what a good artist her grandmother was; the lines and the colors of the watercolor were so real; it looked like her grandfather was alive. Every detail of the muscles on his face, arms, legs and body was as accurate as an anatomical photograph. The painting was breathtakingly beautiful. It was signed "C. O'Gallagher as were the other paintings and sketches.

There were some photographs and some old love letters that Gran had written to him. Some of the letters were filled with chatty, everyday information. Others were filled with love and longing for the husband she missed, and others confirmed Danal's frequent visits. Gran was so happy to see him; she recorded every detail. There were a few letters that were so erotic that Leni blushed when she started to read them.

It was hard to think of her grandmother as a sexual being, but these letters were so beautifully erotic and sensual, there was no doubt that Gran enjoyed a deeply, passionate love life with her grandfather. Leni read only the first few lines of each of these missives and carefully put them back into their envelopes. Gran had never mailed the letters. Of course not, where would she send them? "Prince Danal," address: "Faery?"

They were tied together with a beautiful violet ribbon and locked inside a small gold box; she had found the key in Gran's jewelry box. Leni carefully replaced each one in order, retied the ribbon and locked the box. She hoped she would be able to give all these letters to her grandfather along with the nude painting one day.

She had found some old photographs of Gran and Danal, and Gran and her, Bridget and Sean. She thought Bridget would like to some of them. She also sent both Bridget and Sean some of the paintings and sketches for mementos of both their grandmother and grandfather.

"Bridget hasn't returned any of your calls yet, has she?" Tegan asked sadly.

"No, but don't worry, she will. When I sent the package, I included a note saying that I won't try to contact her anymore; the ball is in her court now. Bridget has the O'Gallagher stubbornness. We all do. I know in my heart that she doesn't want this to last forever. The pregnancy must be affecting her hormones right now; she's still hurt, but I am sure her freeze out won't last much longer. It can't." Tegan could hear the longing and sadness in Leni's voice as she spoke. He loved his wife dearly, but right now he was ashamed of her, but he guessed correctly that Leni was deliberately trying to change the subject.

"Look Munchkin; why don't you give Ry a call. I know he would like to hear from you. You know he watches Marty's video of you singing at the pub almost every night."

"Who are you, John Alden?" Leni asked sharply.

"Who?" Tegan asked mystified.

"You know: John Alden the Puritan who courted Priscilla Mullens on behalf of Miles Standish because he was too dumb to do it himself. Well you're not John Alden; I'm not Priscilla Mullens and Ryodan is not Miles Standish. If Ryodan wants to talk to me, he can call me. He has my number." _I'll really give him a good piece of my mind if he does,_ she thought angrily.

"Munchkin, you know Sean is right. Sometimes I don't know what the hell you are talking about" Tegan replied. Suddenly, suspicion reared its ugly head.

"Did Ry do something to you that I should know about, Leni. If he hurt you in anyway, I will kill him." The old warrior growled.

"God, you guys are always so dramatic! He came to the gatehouse before I left, and we had more words about me being part Fae. We both said things that we shouldn't have said. I am truly convinced he doesn't love me and never could. I am what I am, I am not ashamed of it. If he doesn't like it, he can stuff it."

"Is that all, Leni. Are you sure that is all that happened?" Tegan's voice held a menace that frightened her.

"Oh, for God's sake, Tegan. Get a grip will you! You know him. What do you think he would do to me? We both said some nasty things, and I just don't want to call him, that's all." She answered back. She made herself sound exasperated and as sure as she could. Fear for Ryodan coiled deep within her; she knew for certain that Tegan would try to kill him if she didn't defuse this situation right now. No matter what he had done, she could not imagine Ryodan dead; she definitely did not want that. Ian started twisting and turning inside her; she could feel her son's anxiety and fear for his father too.

"Meowwwwrrrrrr. Rrrrrrr." A loud growl, a "yip," and a crash sounded in the kitchen near the sink.

"What's that?" Tegan asked.

"That's just Delilah, my cat. I think she just took a strip of hide off Sampson, my new golden retriever. She was Gran's cat and thinks this house belongs to her. Sampson is just a puppy, he wants to play, but she's too old. She tries to scratch his eyes out every time he gets near her. Look, I'd better go separate them before she rips him a new one. Give every one my love, bye." Leni answered as she hung up the phone.

Dublin, October two weeks later,

WHAM..._I hate you so much, I burn._ POP..._you wanted to break me tonight, but you didn't._ I don't break that easily...SLAM... _will Zayida and your son's ghosts rest easier now..._SMACK... _I pray to God that I never have to see your face again. _

Those words had haunted Ryodan every day for five months. They ate at him from inside until he felt like a hollow shell, and it was getting worse. For months, he had tried to lose the memories of Leni and that night between the legs of other women, but he had gained only a few moments respite each time. The memories came back with a vengeance afterward.

Now, he couldn't stand to have a woman touch him. Short, fat, tall, thin, pretty or ugly, every woman he touched or saw reminded him of Leni somehow. The turn of a head; the sway of rounded hips; a smile, the flash of a smile; a particular scent; a laugh; everything reminded him of her, and everything tormented him. The only time he felt good was when he was taking a beating from another Draghar like he was tonight.

He hadn't forgotten Zayida or his unborn son, but for the first time in two millennia, he could think of them without pain tearing his heart apart. He still loved them, and he always would, but they were gone. It was time to let them rest in peace. Leni occupied his thoughts now; he no longer thought of her Fae blood; it wasn't important anymore. Like Tegan with Bridget; he loved Leni no matter what she was. His heart belonged to her; he finally realized that Leni was his true soul mate. It was killing him to know that he had lost her because of the shameful thing he had done.

SMACK..._If you need to assign guilt, look in the mirror. The monster that caused your wife's death was one of your own; he was Draghar. _

Ryodan's head spun from the force of Zigor's blows. They were sparring in the special gym the Draghar had built for themselves. At least twice a week, the warriors met to practice hand to hand combat and other fighting skills. All nine of them were there now, but Tegan was lounging against the wall waiting for his turn.

CRACK. Zigor whirled and kicked high catching Ryodan in the jaw; the big warrior's head snapped back, and he went down on his butt. "Christ, Ry, what in the hell is wrong with you? A school boy in short pants would put up a better fight. Whatever it is, it has gone on far too long, so get over it! Come on Te; maybe you will do better than that pussy. Look at him." Zigor announced in a disgusted voice.

Ryodan sat on the floor holding his head in his hands and panted. His left eye was swollen. His lip was split and bruises covered his face and bare torso; the tattoos on his chest and arms pulsed with energy. He looked like a shell of a man, and he felt worse, but he dragged himself up and started shakily toward Zigor, muttering curses as he did. "I'll show you who's a pussy, you bastard. Fight me!"

Tegan grabbed Ryodan by the arm. "Stop, Ry. This is no good. You can't solve your problems this way. Why don't you just give in and call her? I think she would like to hear from you," he said. No matter what Leni had said, Tegan felt in his heart that she stilled loved his friend; he hadn't believed her when she said she was dating someone else. Ryodan snarled and snatched his arm away.

"What's going on, Te?" Zigor asked, but the other Draghar warrior was mute. Tegan felt it was not his place to say anything.

"Ry's in love, Zigor. He can't forget that little blonde honey, Bridget's cousin. He thought he was so smart; he thought we didn't know they had a thing going, but he didn't have to. That last week, she reeked of him. God, what a stink! What's the matter, Ry? Did you think we lost our sense of smell just because we are in human form? Poor, Ry; the little blonde left him, now look at him. Maybe she'd do better with a real man; I'd like a little piece of that tail myself." Lor taunted him.

Tegan's hand fisted; he stepped toward Lor, but Ryodan was faster. "Arghhh!" Ryodan snarled as he drew a big fist back and slammed Lor to the floor. He started to shift to his natural form, but stopped himself. "She's mine! I will kill you if you ever touch her." His eyes were crazy; a second wind gave him strength again. He wanted to smash the other warrior's face to bits. He reached for Lor again.

"Calm down, man. I was just kidding. We never touch each other's females, you know that." Lor said. The other Draghar males looked at Ryodan as if he was crazy. Ryodan snarled and growled at them all. "I will kill anyone here who touches her," he repeated. The other warriors murmured in shock."No one is going to touch her, Ry." One of them said.

"Christ, Ry. Monika would kill me, if I ever touched another woman. Monika is eight weeks pregnant." Another old warrior, Tegner, said proudly. That news surprised the rest of them; Tegner was one of the oldest warriors, but he rarely got involved with human women. His relationship with the small brunette, Monika Iversson, was relatively new; they had been together only a few months. The other warriors stepped up to him and began to clap him on his back, congratulating him.

Tegner stood silently for a moment. He had not intended to tell the rest of his friends about Monika's pregnancy for at least a few more weeks, until she had passed the first trimester. _Well in for a penny, in for a pound_, he thought. "I'm not going back with you Zigor; I love Monika; I am going to marry her, and I'm staying right here."

Jericho Zigor Barrons looked stunned when he heard that. "First Tegan, and now you too?" he said incredulously. "What about Dagmar and your family? Don't you want them back?"

"Dagmar is dead, Zigor; she's been dead for two thousand years. My family is all dead. Monika is alive now, and she needs me; she is carrying my twins; a boy and a girl. I hear their tiny hearts beating inside her, and I can feel their minds; it is amazing! I can't leave her to face what's coming alone. The Fae, Seelie or Unseelie, will kill her and my children the first chance they get. I loved Dagmar and my family more than anything, but I love Monika now. I will help you in your quest for the Sinsar Dubh, but when you go back, you go back without me." The big man said firmly.

He continued. "Monika is a sidhe seer. Her mother left her at that damn monastery when she was ten years old, but she always hated that witch, Rowena. Monika has seen Rowena and V-Lane together in the city; she thinks they are conspiring to get the Sinsar Dubh and the other Unseelie Hallows. Rowena has been stalking Monika and keeps trying to get her back. I'll kill her if she doesn't leave her alone."

"Tegan, I never believed you when you talked about soul mates, but now I know that it is true. Monika is my soul mate. We exchanged the binding vows right after she told me she was pregnant," Tegner's faced beamed with love, but he was blushing beet red; he wondered if the other warriors would scoff at him. They didn't.

The warriors were still congratulating Tegnor when Jericho Barrons asked Ryodan and Tegan to following him into his office. Tegan followed close behind. "Ry, after what Tegan just told us, there's something I have to tell you. Fiona and her niece were in New York City last weekend. They saw Leni Hammond and some other women going into a theater on Broadway. Ry, she's pregnant. She's out to here. Fiona says she must be at least five months gone. If there is any chance that her baby is yours, you must bring her here; both of them will need your protection."

"Tegan, I asked you here because Leni is Bridget's cousin. I thought you should know too. I won't say anything to the others until we find out for sure. It is best this be done as soon as possible. I suggest you two fly out tonight and find out if her baby is half Draghar," he said. Resignation colored his voice; he walked back out to the gym.

"You go, Tegan. I know Leni won't want to see me; she told me that she hates me." Ryodan stated tonelessly.

"Just because you two had a quarrel? Don't be ridiculous. If she's pregnant by you, I am sure she will want to see you. Anyway, if the baby is yours, it's your responsibility."

"You don't understand. You don't know what I did. She didn't tell you what I did, or you would know why I can't go."

"What did you do, Ry?" Tegan asked. His voice was suddenly dangerous and cold.

"I went to the gatehouse later that last night... I was so angry...I... I raped her..." Ryodan stuttered, but he did not get a chance to say more.

Tegan's fist shot out; he punched Ryodan in the chest hard, knocking him back into the office wall. Ryodan could feel a rib break; he just stood there as Tegan pummeled him. He didn't protest as Tegan finally grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled him up in front of him.

"Now I know why you've been acting this way for the last five months, you bastard! It was guilt, plain and simple. Well, you're coming with me, even if you don't want to. You don't deserve it, but I know that girl loves you. You are going to get down on your knees and beg her forgiveness, but, even if you think she won't forgive you, you are going to ask for it anyway."

"Leni is too good for the likes of you, so don't you dare to touch her again unless she wants you. I will kill you if you do. If that baby is yours, and she doesn't want you, I will bring her back to live with me with and Bridget. I will protect her and the baby the way I promised Danal. Do you understand?" Tegan snarled at him.

Ryodan nodded. A curious sense of release filled him. The guilt that had been festering and eating at him was finally lanced like a boil under the skin. Telling Tegan was cathartic in a way. His shame was finally out in the open, and he was finally getting the punishment he so richly deserved; it was too bad his body would heal by tomorrow.

"If she doesn't want me, I will stay away from her and the baby; I give you my word on that. I have done enough to hurt her; I won't cause her more pain. I know now that you were right, Te. Leni is my soul mate, but I think I have lost her because of what I have done. That is my punishment; I will live with that, if I have to, but I hope that she will be able to love me and forgive me some day," he said.

Sea Isle City, then next morning,

Leni got up as usual and prepared breakfast. She was feeling unusually anxious and had been for days; the sense that Ryodan was near was strong in her today. After she ate, she sat and read the paper then checked local nursing job listings on the internet. There was nothing, but then she hadn't expected there would be: hospitals in South Jersey were laying off people too.

During the past few months, she had a few interviews at nursing homes, but as soon as they saw that she was pregnant; amazingly, the position was already filled. If It was over five months since she was laid off from Raritan Bay Hospital, and she had less than a month of unemployment insurance to go. She had an appointment with her lawyer next week to go over the papers for her new business. It looked pretty certain that was the way she would go.

A strong kick from Ian caught her attention. Leni could sense her baby's tenseness. He had been as anxious as she, and this morning, she could sense his mood; it was one of anticipation. His little mind buzzed with warmth and curiosity. His little fists and feet kept making little bulges against the tight skin of her stomach. He moved around non-stop as if he were on some kind of uppers while she sang and talked to him.

She tried to sooth him, but nothing seemed to work until she started thinking about Ryodan again. She thought about the week they had together before the "incident" She smiled inwardly as she remembered how loving he had been to her then; she blushed a little as she remembered their lovemaking. Ian calmed immediately and started to purr very loudly.

Hours later, she was standing at the front window when a limo pulled into her driveway. A big, dark man got out of the back. It was Tegan. Ian started purring happily inside her belly. Leni opened the door before he could knock. She stepped back and Tegan entered the cozy living room. Tegan stared at her belly; he kept sniffing appreciatively.

"He smells good. He is Ry's. I smell his Draghar blood, and I smell Ry in him." Tegan smiled. "Why didn't you tell him you were pregnant?" he asked.

She couldn't think of a thing to say. Her heart was in her throat; she felt shaky and anxious. She looked past him toward the limo. "Is Ryodan with you? I thought I sensed him." She looked disappointed when no one else got out of the limo.

"He's in the limo; he wants to talk to you, but there are some things I need to talk to you about first. I know what Ry did to you, Leni." Tegan's face was suddenly fierce."If you don't want to talk to him, you don't have to. I won't let him get near you."

"You didn't hurt him did you, Te?" she asked quietly; she was afraid of his response.

"Only a little, but I didn't kill him, because I think you still care about him." Tegan said as shook his head.

"I want to talk to him. We have a lot to talk about," she said.

Tegan didn't move. "I need to know if you love him, Leni? Tell me the truth. This is very important." he asked softly.

Leni looked straight at him; her eyes shown with love for Ryodan. "Yes, I do love him, Te. I saw inside his mind that night while he... while he..." She couldn't bring herself to say the word "rape" out loud.

She continued, "He was thinking of Zayida and his son. I saw Zayida through his eyes as he held her while she was dying. I felt his grief and horror and his pain; it was much worse than what he was doing to me. Even when I hated him the most, I knew I still loved him." Her voice was firm; it never wavered. Tegan knew she was telling the truth.

"But have you forgiven him? I know he is sorry for what he did to you. Can you forgive him?

"Yes, I forgive him. How can I not? Grandfather said I must, and you and Ian won't give me any peace unless I do."

"Ian?" Tegan asked with atrange look on his face.

"Yes, my son, Ian Thor. He purrs, you know. He likes that name, "Ian Thor," and he purrs when I say it. He loves to be called "Mighty Thor." He's purring right now; can't you hear him?" she babbled. Realizing that she must sound foolish, she took Tegan's hand and placed it on her stomach. Ian was purring loudly; the air around her vibrated with the sound.

Tegan laughed out loud; the sound was rich and happy, and it echoed around the small room.

"What's so funny?" Leni asked.

"Of course he purrs, Leni. He is Ry's son, and he is Draghar after all." Tegan said. "There is one more thing, Leni. I wanted to tell you this so you know it is the truth. You can't stay here. You and the baby are in danger. He is half Draghar, and if the Fae find you, they will kill you both without thinking twice. You have to come to Ireland."

"What..." Leni started to say, but Tegan interrupted her.

"Of course, Ryodan will want you to go with him. We Draghar are a primitive race, much closer to our animal ancestors than humans are. We are very territorial about our females and our children." That was true.

Leni looked confused and doubtful. This was going too fast; she hadn't thought that far. "I just wanted to talk to Ryodan; to see if we could try again. I wanted to take time so we could get to know each other better before anything else happens. I hadn't thought about going with him, at least, not yet."

"I understand that, Leni, but you must understand, Draghar are very different from humans. Once he knows that you carry his son, he will want to take you with him, or he will die trying. He won't be able to stop himself; we are biologically hard wired that way."

"If you don't want to go with him, you can come and live with Bridget and me, but I need to know now if I am going to have to kill my friend. It will be the hardest thing I have ever done, but you are family. I am older, bigger and stronger, and I will kill him for you, if I must." Tegan said firmly as he lied his head off. Ryodan had promised to stay away from Leni if that was what she wished, and he would honor his promise. Besides, Ryodan was immortal, and it would take some doing to kill him permanently.

Leni gasped; she was deeply frightened by what Tegan had said, "No! I don't want Ryodan dead. Please don't hurt him," she begged.

Tegan continued, "He has promised me that if you go with him, you won't have to share his bed unless you want to do so. He will give you separate quarters in his house. You can take all the time you need to work things out." That was also a lie; they hadn't discussed any such thing, but they would if Leni agreed to go with him.

"I'll go with Ryodan. He is my son's father. We will work things out. I know we will." Leni vowed fervently.

Tegan smiled. "That is good, Leni. By the way, did Ry ever tell you his full name?"

"No. I never thought to ask. Why?"

"Oh, nothing, just curious." The big man smiled as he opened the door and stepped back out on the front porch. He made a beckoning motion. Ryodan got out of the limo and started toward the porch. Tegan started walking toward him.

As they met on the steps, they both stopped. Tegan smirked, "Ian Thor Ryodan, you are one lucky bastard. You have a son."

Ryodan smiled back. "I know, I could smell him a mile away." His eyes turned serious; he was nervous. "Is Leni all right? Will she talk to me?"

"Not only will she talk to you, she still loves you; she forgives you, and she has agreed to go home with you. It took some doing, and you and I have to talk about some things later. So, what are you waiting for? Get your bloody ass inside quick before she changes her mind. Oh, and Ry, ask her what she named your son."

He laughed as he walked toward the limo and got inside. He laughed until tears rolled down his face. "Eleanora Hammond, you are one hell of a woman." Tegan said as he laughed.

He called Bridget. He had told his wife yesterday that he and Ryodan had business in the States, but he did not say what it was. "Leni is coming back to Dublin for good with Ryodan. She's pregnant with Ry's son, and this time, my love, you two are going to talk. It is time this nonsense stops; I won't take no from you any more. You two need each other more than ever now," he said firmly.

Bridget laughed and cried at the same time. "Leni is pregnant? Oh, my God! Thank you, love, of course we will talk. I wanted to call her so many times, but I couldn't. I know I am too stubborn for my own good sometimes. I should have returned her calls, I should have called when I got Gran's paintings and the photographs. I am such a fool; I am so ashamed of myself." Bridget sounded chagrined, and then she laughed; she was happier than she had been in months. "Thank you, Tegan, she whispered.

"Mrs. Bridget Tegan, you are an O'Gallagher. Stubborn is your middle name, but I love you, anyway." Tegan softly laughed with her; he was relieved too.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Leni had not truly cried since Danal had held her in his arms before the "incident" with Ryodan. Sometimes, she woke up in the middle of the night with tears running down her face, and occasionally during the day, her eyes would inexplicably fill with tears, but for the most part, she kept everything bottled up inside and never let herself go. Even after she lost her job and her apartment, even when she realized that she would have to raise Ryodan's son on her own, she didn't cry, because she could not.

She had loved Ryodan and had been betrayed by him in the worst possible way. She knew from her psychiatric training in nursing school that she was experiencing grief as deep and profound as if she had lost Ryodan to death, but still she could not cry. With Bridget still angry with her, she had no one to talk to; she could not even consider discussing the matter with anyone else. At first she was too numb and depressed, but as the weeks and months went by, her pent up emotions often screamed for release.

By then it was too late. Her concern for the health of her son stopped her from dwelling on what happened that night because it upset him too much. Leni was strongly connected with the baby growing within her womb. The more developed his brain became, the easier it was to sense his fledgling emotions. He became anxious and distressed if she became too emotional, so she buried her feelings even further. A hardened scab formed over the place where her emotions were buried, but as Ian grew inside her, she often did feel great joy and happiness.

When Ryodan opened the door and stepped inside the living room, unexpectedly, the scab that covered her raw emotions cracked. Everything she had been holding back since that night exploded in a burst of sorrow, betrayal and loneliness. She had often felt overwhelmed as she tried to cope with one life changing event after another, but even she hadn't understood the depth of her loneliness and desolation; it was too much for one person to bear.

"Ryodan." She whispered his name brokenly and began to cry. She was wracked with gut wrenching explosive sobs so violent they seemed to tear her small body apart.. She gasped and hiccupped loudly from the convulsive force of her crying. Scalding hot tears rained down in a torrent. She trembled; her knees weakened and gave way.

Ryodan had seen many human women cry like this before as they stood grieving over the dead bodies of their husbands or children. In his ancient past, he had sometimes been the cause of that terrible grief, but he had never paid much attention to it before. Now, the knowledge that he was the one responsible for Leni's grief and sorrow burned through him like a laser scalpel. His heart ached for her, and he hated himself for what he had done.

Draghar emotions were of a more violent and passionate nature; they did not feel the softer emotions like love or tenderness; strangely, these emotions seemed to be a human phenomenon only; they did not exist with other species. It was one of the reasons that human women were so attractive to Draghar males. Their own females and children never cried; it was biologically impossible since they had no tear ducts. When their females or children suffered any type of anxiety or emotional distress, the males began to cast soothing pheromones to calm them; it wasn't an emotional response; it was only a biological response to stimuli.

Ryodan had visited many planets and met many different races of people during his long life; the actual shedding of liquid tears seemed to be purely a human phenomenon too; one that involved human females far more than the males of the species. Many women had shed tears when he told them he no longer wanted to see them, but he had disdained them all. Crying women never affected him the way Leni did now.

He felt totally useless for a second, but then his human body instinctively told him what to do. Rushing to catch her before she fell, he picked her up in his arms and sat down on a painted wooden rocking chair. His arms surrounded her as he held her tightly on his lap. He rocked her as if she were a small child. Leni's hot tears soon drenched the front his expensive shirt, but he had no thought of that. He crooned soft soothing words to her as his own tears flowed, dampening her hair as it lay against his cheek. He rocked her for a long time. "Ah, Leni. I am so sorry. I love you so much. Please forgive me," he softly said over and over.

As he held Leni, Ryodan's mind reached out for her and for his son. He felt love and even forgiveness, but he felt wariness too; she was afraid to trust him. That knowledge slammed into his gut with the force of a sledge hammer. He was devastated by the depth of her pain and loneliness. He had not known until now how much she had suffered all these months. He had assumed that she hated him and had gotten over him. He assumed that Bridget and Leni were finally talking again, so he never asked Tegan about that. He never knew how alone she truly had been. He blamed no one but himself for that.

His son's mind was filled with anxiety and confusion; the wee tyke could not understand the depth of the sorrowful emotions his mother felt, and that distressed him greatly. He could feel both his son's very human love for for his mother and his innate Draghar need to comfort her. Ryodan understood that need; for the first time since he came to this planet, he too felt overwhelmed by the Draghar need to comfort his female. He felt his son's very human love for him and was startled by the depth of it.

His life with Zayida had been a good one She had been a strong amazon of a woman and a good wife. He had never seen her unhappy. He had never seen her cry until the night she lay dying in his arms. Ryodan knew she could not survive and had been too overwhelmed with own hate and grief to comfort her.

A weak hint lavender filled the air around them, and Ryodan realized that his son was struggling mightily to calm Leni. He was casting pheromones to sooth her. Reaching for his own Draghar senses, he casted too, adding his own powerful soothing scents. He began a rumbling sound deep in his chest purring as he softly caressed her. He wasn't in the least bit content, but intuitively, he understood that the sound and vibration would naturally soothe Leni and his son.

It did; Leni snuggled closer, and her crying began to subside. He was surprised when she lifted her maternity top and placed his large warm hand against her bare stomach and covered it with her own. They both could feel Ian moving his body as close as possible to the place where their hands lay. As Ryodan stroked Leni's belly, Ian began to quiet, and so did Leni.

After the storm subsided, Leni moved to get up, but Ian's stress level increased as she stood. Both of them could feel that too. Ryodan unbuttoned his shirt and opened it wide exposing his bare torso. Pulling Leni gently back down on his lap, he lifted her maternity top again and brought her up against him so that thy were touching. He moved her a little so that as much of her bare stomach touched his bare skin as possible. The movement was not sexual, and Leni did not resist.

As soon as their bodies touched, a warmth spread through her, and Ian began to relax again. Leni lay that way with her cheek against Ryodan's naked chest, feeling his tattoos pulse. There was a time when she had mistaken the dark tattooes as black hair peeking out of his shirt neckline, but she really liked the amooth feeling of his hairless chest. After a few minutes, she gave a sigh of relief. "I missed you, Ryodan, but; we need to talk," she said sleepily as she moved closer into his warmth. Ryodan could feel Leni's exhaustion, but he could also feel that her heart was lighter and freer than it had been in months.

"We will, love," he whispered into her hair. Minutes later she fell into a deep sleep. It took a few more minutes for Ian to do so too. An hour later, Tegan found his friend rocking slowly back and forth holding Leni tightly against his bare chest. She was snoring softly. Tegan went into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee, and brought a cup out to Ryodan.

"Did you two talk yet?" The big man asked.

"Not yet, but she wants to, and we will." His friend replied.

Around midnight, Tegan left to go to a hotel on the mainland. Ryodan carried Leni into the bedroom, undressed her, put a warm nightgown on her, and put her to bed. After showering, he slid in beside her dressed only in his shorts. Curling up behind her, he placed his hand on her stomach and fell asleep holding her in his arms. He felt happy for the first time in months.

The next morning, Leni woke up against Ryodan; his large body was radiating heat like a furnace; it felt so warm and good. She was facing him; her face was nuzzled into his neck, and one arm was thrown over his chest. She had slept deeply, but sometime during the night, she had turned and cuddled up to him. Now she could feel him trying to put distance between their lower bodies. She moved her hand and accidentally touched something hot, long and hard. She jumped. Her eyes opened wide and for a moment, he saw a flash of panic and fear in them.

"I'm..."I'm not ready for that yet," she whispered. She shot off the bed as if she had been burned.

Ryodan saw the fear in her eyes and cringed inside. "It is okay love. Only when you are ready." Leni gave him an unsure look. "It is what happens when I wake up next to a beautiful woman like you," he gently teased, trying to keep things light. He drew in a huge breath of relief when she tentatively smiled.

When he first saw her months ago, Ryodan had thought Leni was merely pretty in her own sort of way. He soon began to think that she was beautiful. Now even with her belly swollen with his child, he believed she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He had not been with a woman in almost three months, and his male needs kicked into overdrive last night. Sleeping with Leni's soft body curled up against his all night had been exquisite torture. He wanted to make love to her desperately, but he would not risk their tentative new relationship for his own physical needs. It had taken him a long time to go to sleep, and when he did, he was tortured even more with erotic dreams of her. He had awoken a few minutes before with an erection the size of a large log pressed up against her stomach. He had been trying to will it to go down, but It wasn't cooperating. He felt Leni's mind begin to climb from sleep to wakefulness and was trying to move away without wakening her further. He did not want her to be aware of his arousal.

When she moved her hand and accidentally touched him, his organ jumped with a will of its own in response. He was concerned that she would remember that night and what he had done to her. He was grateful that Leni stayed calm and went into the bathroom to shower. He got up, dressed and went into the kitchen. He was making a fresh pot of coffee when Leni came into the room.

"We have to talk, Ryodan," she said as she opened the refrigerator door and took out orange juice, eggs, bread, butter and a large steak for him. She began to prepare breakfast for them both. When they sat down to eat, she talked; he listened. She laid out her conditions for returning to Dublin to live with him.

He had "hoped" for more, but he got more than he "expected." She would sleep in a separate bedroom until she was ready to come to his; she had no way of knowing when, or even if, that would be. There would be no other women, period. No one else was to know about their sleeping arrangements; as far as everyone else was concerned, they were together in every way. If she ever decided she did not want to be with him, she would live in the gatehouse at Tegan's estate. She would not ask for any support for herself, but he would financially support his son. He would be a part of his son's life if he wanted, but he would never bother her again.

Danal had told her that he and the others planned to go back in time to bring their wives and families back to life. If that was the case, Leni said to let her know now, and she would go to live with Bridget and Tegan. They both agreed that it would not be fair to let Ian love him if he planned to abandon them. When he said that he would not leave her, she said bluntly that she wanted to believe him, but she didn't; she did not trust him.

"Fucking Fairy." The words were on Ryodan's lips, but they were never uttered. Before he could say anything else, Leni told him that her grandfather, Danal, had said once more that she and Ryodan were soul mates and that Ryodan loved her. Grandfather insisted that she must forgive him. Ryodan knew about the first two things; he didn't know about the third and had no idea what to think about that.

Ryodan accepted Leni's demands without objection; he made none of his own. Leni did not admit that she still loved him, but he knew from her mind that she did, and that was enough. He had to prove to her that he was trustworthy. He had to prove he would not leave her again. He had a second chance; he would not screw up this time.

Seven hours later, Tegan, Ryodan and Leni were on board Tegan's plane somewhere over the Atlantic flying home to Ireland. She had packed some clothing and her most prized possessions, including Gran's paintings, sketches and letters. She had Sampson and Delilah on board too. It took some doing to get the old cat into a traveling container, but Ryodan finally managed it.

Sampson settled into his container without a whimper. Delilah was extremely upset, so Leni put two pee pads down in back of the cabin and let both animals out of their containers as soon as they got on the plane. It had never occurred to Leni to go without her animals. Ryodan promised to pull some strings and take care of all the paperwork so the cat and dog would not have to stay in quarantine.

Delilah was a fat, ten year old cat with long gray hair, a white face and white paws. After Gran's death, Leni had asked a neighbor to take her because Philip didn't like animals. When Leni returned to Sea Isle City, she asked for the cat back, and the neighbor was happy to oblige. For more than two weeks, Delilah imperiously let Leni know how outraged she was at being abandoned by her. Finally the old cat deigned to let Leni pet her again.

Delilah's comfortable world was shaken up once more when Leni brought Sampson home. A young girl was giving away golden lab puppies in a park on the island, and as soon as Leni saw Sampson, she knew she had to adopt him. Delilah was in a snit for days. Finally, she let both Leni and Sampson know it was okay if the puppy stayed, as long as he stayed away from her. Of course, Sampson had no idea that Delilah was so particular about who she hung out with; he was a ball of energy, and he wanted to play with her all the time. He accepted her hissing and scratching as play. In the last few days, Delilah had just barely started to tolerate Sampson without trying to scratch his eyes out.

Now the old gray cat was clearly insulted by being stuffed into a cage, and she gave Ryodan a few deep scratches. Once on board, she did not like the sensation of flying, but her furious growls and hisses slowed to a few pitiful meows as she crawled under the seat across the aisle to hide. "That's one female who will never like you, Ry."" Tegan joke, and Leni laughed.

Three month old Sampson seemed to take everything in stride, he barked happily and wriggled in joy at finding two new playmates. He rolled around on the floor of the luxurious cabin and played with a stuffed toy animal Leni had gotten him a week ago. He batted Leni, Ryodan and Tegan's legs with his muzzle begging for attention which he got. Finally Ryodan ordered the puppy to lay down; Sampson immediately walked over and laid down beside Delilah.

Leni was amazed that the old cat let Sampson stay within ten feet of her. She actually seemed comforted by the big puppy's familiar presence as he curled up next to her and placed his big head gently across her back as if to say, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

An hour before landing, Ian started purring away and Delilah got up and jumped up onto Leni's lap. Circling around several times, she tested Leni's lap several times, pushing her claws down into the material of Leni's jeans. She finally got comfortable, laid down and started purring herself. Ryodan let loose a few low rumbling purrs, and the cat looked up at him curiously. He stopped, and as soon as Delilah made herself comfortable again, Ryodan began purring again.

Delilah was really curious now. It was comical watching her put one paw up on the arm of the seat and move back and forth as if she wanted to jump over to Ryodan's seat, but she just wasn't sure. Once, twice, she moved forward as if to jump, and then sat back on her haunches again. On the third try, she jumped up on the back of the seat behind Ryodan's head, climbed down his shoulder and into his lap. Circling once on his lap, she tested the material of his jeans with her claws too and settled down. Looking up at him as if to say, "You'll do," she batted his hand with her head, laid down, curled her tail up around her and started purring again as she allowed Ryodan to pet her.

"You were saying, Te?" Ryodan laughed. He did not particularly like cats, but he knew Leni loved Delilah. He would do anything for Leni, but it was time to show the cranky feline who was the alpha male in his household.

"How did you find out I was pregnant?" Leni asked a few minutes later after Tegan went to sit up with the pilot for the landing.

"A friend of Zigor saw you in New York last week end. You didn't intend to tell me about my son, did you?" Ryodan asked. There was no accusation in the words; it was just a question.

Her answer was brutally honest, "No, I didn't see a future for us. You said you never wanted to see me again. You said I disgusted you because of my Fae blood. I believed you. My son has Fae blood too," she said simply.

Ryodan flinched visibly as he remembered his cruel words and even crueler actions that night. "I was a fool, Leni. I hope someday you will know how truly sorry I am for that night, all of it." Pain and regret filled his voice.

"Tegan kept telling me that you loved me and wanted to talk, but I couldn't believe him. I told myself that I never wanted to see you again either, but when Tegan got out of the car, I realized for our son, Ian Thor's, sake, if nothing else, we had to talk." Leni continued.

"You've named him, "Ian Thor?" A faint smile played on his lips. "That is my name; did you know that?" Leni shook her head.

"There was a time long ago when the vikings called me only, "Thor." They thought I was a god; they thought we were all gods, and perhaps we were to them. I have used many names in my lifetime, but I have gone by the name, "Ian Thor Ryodan," for the last twenty years. He pulled out his wallet. and showed her his drivers license.

"Leni, I think that you and I are connected in ways that neither one of us fully understand yet. I love you, I want you, and I want my son. If you come back to me me, I will never hurt you again. I will never leave you again. This I vow."

"Zayida...your son?" she asked again. Clearly she had difficulty believing that he would not go back to his wife if the chance presented itself.

"I loved Zayida and our son; I always will, but they are long gone. It is time I left them to rest in peace. You are the only woman that I love now. You and my son are my family; you are the only family that I want. I intend to tell Zigor that I am not going back as soon as I see him next. Give me a chance, and I will prove it to you." Ryodan said quietly as he took her hand and kissed it. Leni smiled faintly at him. _Perhaps it is true_, she thought.

Through the windows, they could see the landing lights on the rainswept runway of the small private airport outside of Dublin where Tegan kept his private planes. The McDonald's, including Bridget and Sean, would be waiting inside the hangar office to greet them. A surge of happiness flooded Leni; she had the strongest feeling that she was finally coming home.

"I love you too, Ian Thor Ryodan," she said as she turned to smile at him again.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was raining and cold when Leni stepped down onto the tarmac with Ryodan right behind her. The jet was parked about one hundred feet from the hangar. Sean got to her first. "Munchkin!" Her younger cousin yelled as he barreled out of the hangar into the rain heading toward the plane. His long legs covered the ground in no time. Leni started running toward him; her pregnant belly shaking up and down as she ran. He picked her up and swung her around just as he always did when he first saw her. He hugged her tight and kissed her on both cheeks.

Ryodan stood behind them with his fists clenched at his side as the green monster of jealousy roared inside. He did not like another man touching his mate, even if he was her cousin. He started toward them.

"Steady, Ry." Tegan whispered beside him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "You'll have to get used to this; I know I had to. Leni, Sean and Bridget are closer than most siblings, and they show their affection openly and often. So cool it," he warned.

Leni kissed Sean heartily on the cheek and said, "Okay, Beanpole, put me down." Sean had grown another three inches and was almost as big as Ryodan. He had filled out too; she could feel the hard muscles of his pecs and biceps as he held her. His jeans showed the muscles in his calves and thighs. There was not an ounce of fat anywhere; he clearly was doing some serious workouts. Evidently Tegan's training was working.

His clean shaven face was more mature too; his chocolate brown hair was more alive with its blonde highlights. If she had thought Sean was gorgeous before, he was absolutely stunning now. Sean was not a boy anymore; he was a grown man with a powerful magic aura of his own. He radiated a kind of electricity that was different than Tegan and Ryodan's; it was more like Danal's. Leni wondered if everyone saw it the way she did.

Sean laughed with happiness has he hugged Leni again. His voice was rich and deep like a grown man's. He was no longer unsure of himself either. He oozed confidence, but none of the arrogance of the Draghar warriors; there was a kindness in his strange and beautiful copper eyes. The female in her recognized that her younger male cousin was a major hunk, and she was proud of him.

"You look so much like grandfather, you could be his twin. You're a man now, Sean. I don't think I can call you Beanpole, anymore." she laughed ruefully.

Sean laughed too and put her down. Holding both of her small hands in his big ones, he stepped away and stared straight at her belly. "Wow! Bridget said you were pregnant, but are you ever! Is it really his? I thought you didn't like him," he said with a dark look toward Ryodan. The look was fierce and protective. His face had a hard look on it; he was clearly ready to fight.

"Yes, it's Ryodan's baby. I love him, Sean. He loves me. We are together now, so wipe that look off your face right now. You may be a lot bigger than me, but I will smack you so hard, your head will spin." Leni teased to lighten the mood.

Sean persisted. "Why didn't you tell us you were pregnant before, Munchkin? Why didn't he tell us? Did he hurt you in anyway? Did he threaten you? I will kill him if he did." Sean said suspiciously as he glared Ryodan.

He was remembering what Ryodan had said to Leni that night in Uncle Marty's pub. He had hated Tegan's friend that night, but as the months rolled by, his heart had begun to soften toward the big Draghar warrior. He had started to pity him after he saw the way the warrior looked night after night, as he watched the video of Leni singing with the band. There was a mixture of love, loneliness and regret in his eyes. Sean actually started to like him and encouraged him to call Leni just like Tegan did.

He had heard what Danal had said about Leni and Ryodan being soul mates, and he was convinced that Ryodan loved his cousin. Sean often wondered why Ryodan didn't do something about it. He long suspected that they had a terrible fight later. Actually seeing Leni pregnant was quite a shock. He sensed that Ryodan was the reason that she had not told anyone about her pregnancy, and that was not like her. That made him angry at the other Draghar male all over again. His fists clenched tightly at his sides; Leni could tell he wanted to fight.

By the time Ryodan had caught up with the two cousins, Sean had drawn Leni close, and she put her arm around him. He had heard everything that Sean had said and glared back at the younger male. The look on Ryodan's face was dangerous and dark. Leni could see Ryodan's aura start to change. The air around him started to crackle with electricity. She could tell he was spoiling for a fight too.

The look of anger and pure jealousy on Ryodan's face told Leni that he didn't like seeing her hugging Sean, but that was too bad; he would just have to get used to it. Ryodan's nostrils flared, and Sean started to push Leni behind him. She could feel a strange power start to build up in him, and it scared her. Giving her cousin another squeeze, she stepped away from him and embraced Ryodan just as Tegan stepped up and put his hand on Sean's arm.

"Stop it you two. No one is fighting here tonight."Tegan said softly.

"Tegan is right. You two are not going to fight, Sean. It doesn't matter why I didn't tell you I was pregnant. Ryodan just found out himself, and no, he didn't hurt me." Still, the two males did not look convinced.

"You are not going to fight my cousin, Ryodan. Do you understand me?" she said firmly as she poked him in the stomach. She turned and said, "I love him, Sean. He is my son's father, and we are together now. That is all that matters." Reaching up, she kissed Ryodan full on the mouth. He tightened his arms around her possessively and smiled triumphantly at Sean.

Ryodan made himself relax and nodded. Tegan was right, he wasn't going to fight Sean. Besides, he admired the way that the "boy" tried to protect his cousin, but the "boy" just better not make a habit of it.

"It's okay, Leni. He is just trying to protect you, but that is my job from now on, isn't?" Ryodan said as he held Sean's eyes for a long second.

Obsidian black stared into burnished copper. Neither man flinched,;neither man looked away; neither man was afraid. Whatever Sean saw in those dark black eyes must have satisfied him, and he nodded. Leni felt a load lift from her mind.

"Okay, it's your job from now on, but, remember, you hurt her that night with your words. Don't hurt her again, understand, or I will kill you." Sean said in a low voice. His eyes shown iridescently for a moment. His golden aura flickered much brighter for a a few seconds and crackled with electricity.

Leni believed Sean meant every word that he said. She didn't think that he could ever beat Ryodan in a fight, but he would die trying. A fight between those two would not be like a normal fight between two human males. It would be more like something out of "Clash of the Titans." That scared her senseless; it made her shiver. Ryodan had an idea what she was thinking and hugged her tighter to him.

"You would have to get in line behind me." Tegan said and laughed. All three men laughed. It wasn't a humorous sound; there was a strong undercurrent to it, but somehow it did ease the tension that had gotten thick enough to cut with a knife. Leni smiled slightly. The four of them headed to the hangar where Bridget, Aunt Diana and Uncle Pat stood waiting out of the cold rain.

"Munchkin!" Bridget cried as Leni walked through the double door into the hangar office. She grabbed Leni and hugged her as hard as she could, and Leni hugged her back. Their baby bumps made it a little awkward, but that didn't stop them.

Tears of joy welled up in Leni's eyes as she clasped Bridget to her. "Oh, God. It's so good to see you, Bridey. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Leni. I am so sorry..." Bridget began, but Leni shushed her.

Aunt Diana and Uncle Pat also hugged Leni. Her aunt put her hand on Leni's stomach. "When's the baby due?" she asked.

"February 11th." Leni answered.

Diana McDonald swung around and faced Ryodan. She had met him at Bridget's wedding and a few other times at Bridget and Tegan's home. The woman, who looked enough like Bridget to be her slightly older sister, glared at him. The look she gave him could have melted iron. Diana McDonald looked exactly like her mother, Catriona O'Gallagher, in that moment.

_What is with these people?_ Ryodan thought.

"So this baby is yours? When are you two getting married?" she demanded.

"Aunt Diana..." Leni began.

"We are working on it, Mrs. McDonald." Ryodan said.

"What do you mean, "You are working on it? It looks like you two worked on it plenty already." Aunt Diana said sharply, her mouth in a severe frown. In that moment, her aunt's resemblance to her grandmother was stark, and it made Leni feel a fresh longing for Catriona O'Gallagher. They had the same light blonde hair; the same violet eyes and the same height and build. They also had the same stubborn look in their eyes. Aunt Diana came by her stubbornness naturally; she was an O'Gallagher woman too after all.

"Ryodan is right; we are working on it, Aunt Diana. We don't want to jump into anything before we are sure," Leni said lamely.

"Humph. You two jumped off the diving board a long time ago, Leni. We expect him to do the right thing by you, don't we Pat." Her aunt answered. Uncle Pat nodded; he was glaring at Ryodan too.

"Ryodan and I have some things to work out before we decide to do anything. We will only get married if, and when, we both think it is the right thing for the two of us, Aunt Diana." Leni said firmly as she lifted her chin in defiance and hugged Ryodan tighter.

Tegan and Bridget looked at Ryodan and Leni in sympathy. Bridget changed the subject before anything else could be said. "Come on everybody. Uncle Marty and everyone is waiting for us at the pub. He's planned a little celebration for Leni's return."

Leni felt tired and hungry, but she she happily agreed to Bridget's interruption. Right now, she just wanted to crawl under a rock somewhere. She wanted to get Ryodan away from her aunt and uncle's scrutiny. She knew they wouldn't say anything obnoxious in front of strangers at Uncle Marty's pub.

The pub was crowded when the group arrived. Uncle Marty had three tables in the back pushed together reserved for them all. He had a meal brought to the tables, and they all celebrated Leni's return. Bridget sat next to Leni on the right, and Ryodan sat next to her on the left. As Ryodan talked to Tegan and Uncle Marty, the two cousins caught up. Leni wasn't surprised to learn that Bridget's son, who was expected to be born on December 21st, purred too. The two girls giggled happily ed as they quietly told each other with stories about the babies they carried.

The next two days passed quickly. Ryodan made Leni see a doctor, the same one that Bridget was seeing. She soon found out that the doctor was a Druid who served the Draghar warrior's human companions. After finding out one of his nurses just quite, she made arrangements to work in his office two days a week. Ryodan wasn't happy about that, but Leni insisted. She wasn't cut out to sit around and do nothing, she told him.

Ryodan lived up to his word. He gave Leni use of a large suite of rooms on the second floor. She slept alone. He never tried to touch her, although on the second night, he held her for hours after she woke from a nightmare screaming his name. She had dreamed of him falling to his death from a cliff to his death on a world so strange, Leni knew it wasn't earth. He kept falling and falling and saw his broken and bloodied body lying in a heap on top of some large rocks.

Ryodan was in his library on the first floor when he heard her scream. Thinking something was wrong, he bounded up the stairs to find her sitting up in the middle of the bed, crying and shaking. Sitting on the bed, he wrapped his arms around her and crooned to her softly as she hung on to him for dear life. "Please stay with me for a while," she asked. He laid down on the bed and pulled her down beside him. Leni snuggled into Ryodan's chest and tried to tell him about the dream. It did not make any sense to him.

He lay with her that way for more than an hour. She did not make a move to touch him sexually, but Ryodan knew how much she needed him with her. He wanted Leni more than ever. Having her in his arms without being able to make love to her was almost unbearable, but at least she had consciously asked for him to lay with her, and that was a beginning. Once she was asleep, he went down to his underground lair to take a cold shower.

On Friday, Uncle Marty planned a small celebration for Sean. It was Sean's twentieth birthday. The McDonalds, Tegan and Bridget, Ryodan and Leni attended along with Uncle Marty's wife and kids and some of Sean's friends. The back of the bar was reserved for a group of about twenty people. Plates of steaming hot food and plenty of alcohol were brought to the tables. Leni and Bridget each had a glass of wine.

During the celebration, Lor, Angus and Tegner came into the pub with their women. All of three of the men came over to greet Ryodan and Tegan. As they neared the table, the Draghar males started to sniff the air. They nodded at Leni with a slightly surprised and shocked look on their faces. Apparently, Ryodan had not told them that she was carrying his baby. Tegner introduced Monika Iversson to Leni. Sean knew the Draghar warriors by now, so he invited them all to sit and join the celebration. A while later, Leni heard Angus call Ryodan "one lucky son of a bitch." His tone was light, but there was a touch of envy in the big man's voice.

As they ate, Leni sat facing the large bar in the center of the pub, Ryodan was sitting near her on her left and Bridget on her right. Thankfully, her aunt and Uncle were down at the end of the table with Uncle Martin, who kept them busy talking; they had no chance to give Ryodan the third degree for a second night. Ryodan kept his thigh up against hers all through the meal and was holding her hand underneath the table now. Every once in a while, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, or hugged her as he laughed. He seemed relaxed and having a good time.

After the meal, the Draghar males moved to one end of the tables and started to talk. Sean and his friends got up to play pool. Monika and the other two women moved closer to Bridget and Leni and started to talk. Monika happily told them that she was pregnant with Tegner's babies and talked glowingly about their wedding, which was to take place in four weeks. She invited them to the wedding on the spot. It didn't take long for Leni to decide that she liked Monika a lot, and soon she realized that she, Bridget and Monika formed a very special club; women who were pregnant by Draghar males; women who considered them as their soul mates.

The girls chatted amiably for a few minutes comparing notes about their strange pregnancies when a creepy feeling started crawling up Leni's spine. She looked up to find a pair of hostile green eyes staring intently at her. Moira Harkness was sitting at the bar with a man whom Leni didn't recognize. Leni was not given to flights of fancy, but Moira's eyes were malevolent. They were filled with jealousy and darkness. A shudder passed through Leni as a sudden memory of the night she was almost hit by a car outside of Chester's passed before her. Moira had the same look on her face that night.

Bridget and Monika both noticed the look on Moira's face as well. Monika shuddered and exclaimed, " Christ! Talk about the evil eye! Look at her. In the past couple of months, I have seen her mooning over Ry, but he wouldn't give her the time of day. Tegner said that Ry dumped her when he started seeing you. Boy, she sure hates you, that's for certain. From what I hear about Moira, you'd better watch your back around her, Leni. That woman is definitely scary."

Bridget must have been thinking the same thing because she whispered, "Leni, that night... the accident. Do you think? ...Oh, my God. You have to tell Ryodan," she said. She was upset by the memories of Leni's close call that night.

"What's to tell? We have no proof, and we just can't go around making accusations?" Leni said to her cousin. At that moment, Moira and the man she was with, got up and walked out of the pub. Leni breathed easier after the redhead left.

At the bar, Jericho Barrons sat with Dustan Kittridge a well known dealer in rare books and manuscripts. He had known Kittridge for years; the seventy year old man had been an archeologist in his youth. His specialty was ancient Celtic artifacts and the Tuatha De Danaan in particular, but an accident at a dig in Northern Ireland had left his right leg and arm almost useless. Unable to pursue more strenuous field work, he began to write historical texts about early Ireland and Scotland. He also wrote several college text books on archeology.

Dustan Kittridge was a friend of Jericho Barrons. He was also a Druid whose family had served the Draghar for millennia. He had called Barrons Books and Baubles and left a message with Fiona earlier today asking him to meet him here tonight. That was convenient because he knew of the celebration for Leni Hammond and felt it was time to finally introduce himself to Ryodan's latest woman. When Dustan came in they took a private booth near the empty stage in the front of the bar. Barrons was gratified to hear what his friend had to say. Kittridge gave him a lead on the Sword of Lugh and the Spear of Luisne, both Seelie hallows capable of killing both Seelie and Unseelie Fae.

"Rowena has the Sword at the monastery. It is hidden somewhere in one of the many libraries there. The magic wards they have erected are a deathtrap for anyone who tries to break into the place. Word is that she has been sending out some of the younger, stronger sidhe seers with the weapon to kill the Unseelie monsters have appeared in the city lately. I have also confirmed that Rocky O'Bannion has the spear in a secure vault below his place. Both items are carefully guarded; I don't know how you will get to them, Jericho," the old man stated.

"Let me worry about that, Dustan, and thank you. Take care," Barrons said as the old man limped out using a mahogany cane with a silver tip and handle, covered with Celtic runes. The runes contained a Druid protection spell that had served Kittridge well over his life.

Barrons turned his attention to table where Ryodan and Leni Hammond sat. He picked up his glass of Irish whiskey and drank it down. He paid his tab and prepared to join them. Suddenly, a cold anger engulfed him. The anger was directed specifically at Leni Hammond. Ryodan had told him last night that, like Tegan and Tegner, he planned to stay in this world with Leni and his son. He was not going back for Zayida.

Barrons had known that Ry had a thing for her before she left, now it was clear from the way he looked at her that he was in love with her. He almost regretted letting him know that the girl was pregnant, but he could never leave a Draghar child unprotected, even if that child was only half Draghar. He had hoped that if the child was Ryodan's, his friend would take the child with them when they went back. He hoped that both Tegan and Tegner would do that too; he did not care a damn about their mothers.

Of all the Draghar, Ryodan was the one Barrons was closest to; the one he considered his closet friend; the one who understood him most. They were all good men, but only Ryodan shared his desire to go back in time and bring back their wives and families with the same level of fanaticism that he had. Yes, the others, all except Tegan, wanted to go back, but they were not driven by the same intensity of purpose the way he and Ryodan were.

He wondered why now, after over two thousand years of apparent infertility, had three Draghar males managed to impregnate three women who also just happened to be sidhe seers. That was quite a strange coincidence; Barrons did not believe in coincidence. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Bridget and Leni were part Fae. He could smelled their Fae blood despite both a powerful Fae spell and a Draghar spell to mask the scent, but he didn't need to smell their Fae blood, all he had to do was look at Sean McDonald, who was the spitting image of a minor Fae prince called Danal.

Barrons did not trust anything Fae. He was naturally suspicious and wondered if either Bridget or Leni were working for V-Lane or the Fae queen. If that was the case, he would destroy them both, and the boy, Sean, too. He could understand Tegan accepting this, since the older warrior had been something of a rebel since the time he was married to Rhianna, a woman he called his first soul mate. He could not understand Ryodan's actions, since Ry hated Fae as much as he did. A few minutes later, Leni Hammond was the only one sitting at the table. Barrons walked up to her.

Leni instantly recognized Jericho Barrons. She also instantly disliked him. He was Zigor, the one Ryodan considered their leader.

"Miss Hammond, I am Jericho Barrons. May I sit down? Ryodan has told me much about you. When is the blessed event due?" he asked. Without waiting for her to say anything, he sat down in Ryodan's empty seat. Barrons made an obvious effort to sniff the air; his lips thinned a little, as if he did not like what he smelled. Still he held out his hand, and Leni shook it.

An unpleasant electric jolt accompanied by a strange vision occurred as they touched, and Leni gasped and jerked her hand away. Not too subtly, she wiped her hand along her jeans pant leg as if to wipe it clean. Jericho Barrons seemed surprised by her reaction, but then he smiled. It wasn't s friendly smile. It was one of a predator that had cornered its prey.

In the vision, Jericho Barrons stood arguing with a tall young woman of about five nine or so. She was dressed in a short, tight, slutty black outfit, but Leni knew she hated what she wore. She had a strange sword in her hands. From her face, Leni could see that they were about the same age. She had shoulder length, dark hair, but Leni knew that wasn't its natural color. Her beautiful eyes were an unusual shade of green.

Another vision of the young woman sprang up, only this time, she had long, natural blonde hair. She was strikingly beautiful and feminine and reminded Leni of a shorter, green eyed version of her cousin Bridget. The girl was wearing a tight rose colored sweater and a gauzy skirt in pastel colors with lots of pink and lavender. She was wearing pink high heel sandals, pink nail polish and pink lipstick. She was talking to another blonde who was a little shorter and dressed in a similar fashion. The second girl's back was turned, so Leni could not see what she looked like, but from their body language, they both seened happy and so alive, as if they didn't have a care in the world.

The image changed backed to her and Barrons again. This image was in stark contrast to the "Pretty in Pink" image. She was angry; her green eyes were dark and filled with sorrow, as if she had suffered a truly unbearable loss. She seemed to be trading insults with Barrons Leni could not make out what was being said, but she could tell that the words were taunting and cruel.

Barrons' eyes shown with a feral lust for the young woman, but there was something else too: the beginnings of love in his eyes. Barrons did not want to love this person; he was angry at her, and even angrier at himself for that emotion. His words became crueler and harder. As they argued, the woman gave Jericho Barrons as good as she got.

Leni could sense this woman had similar feelings for him, but she wasn't aware of them. She buried her feelings of love deep under layers of grief and rage. The woman turned aside at a particularly cutting remark that Barrons had made; she was trying not to show how much his remark had hurt. Her eye welled with tears. At that moment, the two of them reminded Leni of Ryodan and herself, not that long ago.

"I know who you are, Mr. Barrons." Leni answered him; she could not keep the coldness out of her voice. She had never met him in person before, but Danal described him to a tee. She knew what this man, Barrons, wanted to do. She knew what he wanted Ryodan, Tegan and the others to do, and it made her both afraid and very, very angry.

"Why so formal, Miss Hammond? My friends call me, Jericho," he said to her. His lip curled up at the corner, and his voice was colder than hers. His eyes were hard and as black as coal. There was an undercurrent of boiling anger seething just below the surface.

"We both know that we are not friends, and we not likely to be anytime soon, are we, Mr. Barrons?" she answered cynically. "I don't see what we have to talk about I know what you plan to do, and I think it's wrong," she said quietly.

"It isn't just that you want Ryodan and the others to go back with you; you will leave humankind and our world to face the Unseelie in the war to come. Yes, I know about that. Most of us will be destroyed, but you know that, don't you? Humans won't stand much of a chance against the Fae, but you could help us if you stayed."

"I don't give a damn about humans or this world, and whatever my plans are, they are of no concern to you. You cannot stop me, no one can, so don't even try. I am ruthless with my enemies, Miss Hammond. Remember that."

"I am not your enemy, Mr. Barrons, but you are wrong. Your plans are of a concern to me since they involve Ryodan and my world. I will fight to keep and protect was it mine, and that includes Ryodan." As she said that the strangest feeling filled her. She knew that the nightmare she had that morning involved Jericho Barrons and the woman she just saw in her herRyodan would die bcause of those two. Fear replaced the anger she felt.

"Does Ry know that you have Fae blood? You are Danal's get, aren't you? I recognize your cousin," he said with distaste as he jerked his head toward Sean, who was playing pool with Tegan. "I know Danal. He is a weakling fairy little prince just like the others, just like V-Lane." Barrons said dismissively. His voice was so icy, it could have frozen the fires of hell.

"Believe me; he does, but you may ask him if you wish; not that it is any of your concern. Danal is my grandfather; he is the one who told me what you plan to do. Ryodan has never discussed it with me. Danal may surprise you one day, Mr. Barrons. He isn't as weak as you think, and one day you may need him and my cousin." Leni gritted her teeth when she said that.

Barrons leaned closer, and her Fae cuff began to vibrate and hum warning to the big Draghar warrior. He looked at the cuff and scoffed in derision. "Your cuff cannot harm me; my magic is much stronger than Fae. As far as needing Danal or your cousin, I hardly think so. That Ryodan accepts your Fae blood after what happened to his wife, Zayida, is indeed a surprise. Perhaps you used Fae glamour to attract him, but but it is of no consequence. You will not keep him. Your cousin will not keep Tegan, either. Their loyalties are to the Draghar, not to human women, especially those with Fae blood in their veins. I am telling you this as just a warning so you won't get your heart broken."

"Somehow I don't think you give a damn about my heart, Mr. Barrons, so you can take your phony concern and shove it. You can think what you want, but Ryodan is not going back with you, and neither is Tegan. Surely, Ryodan told that by now. He will not leave me or his son; we are his family now; his living family, and he loves us," she challenged him forcefully. She wasn't absolutely sure who she was trying to convince, Jericho Barrons or herself..

"We will see Miss Hammond. We will see." The big man smirked and started to stand and walk away.

"You won't go back either... Zigor... Maybe none of you will want to go back." She said his name insolently, slowly drawing it out as if it were a curse. "One day soon you will make a choice between a living woman who loves you, or a dead wife. "You will choose the living woman; I know; I have see it." That was a lie, she didn't hadn't seen that, but she wanted to get under this arrogant bastard's skin.

"What are you, Miss Hammond, a fortune teller now, or a witch, perhaps?"

"I am neither, but I do see the future. I do have the gift of second sight. Didn't Ryodan tell you that?" she smirked snarkily.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Miss Hammond. Perhaps your tainted Fae blood has addled your brain. Either that, or you are a fool. I can assure you that no woman will stop me from achieving my goal." He scoffed and walked away.

"We shall see, Mr. Barrons. We shall see," she said with a confidence she didn't feel.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After Jericho Barrons left the table, Leni kept staring at his harsh, but handsome, golden visage. In so many ways, he looked like Ryodan, only harder and more forbidding. He wasn't as big as Ryodan, but he seemed more powerful in many ways. She knew that both were the type of men who could turn a woman's soul inside out and leave them completely fulfilled or completely empty. As Ryodan when she first met him, Jericho Zigor Barron's ancient black eyes hid a soul that had not known peace in countless centuries. He terrified her.

Her mind roiled trying hard, but not quite making sense of the vision she had while she shook his hand. The vision was related to the nightmare from earlier that morning; she was sure of it. She kept seeing Ryodan's bloodied body as it fell; she kept seeing his crushed and broken body lying at weird angles on the rocks jutting out from the river below. The white foam of the rapids boiled and seethed around him washing some of the blood away. Terrible gashes lay his chest open. Both the vision and the nightmare gave her the same eerie tingle whenever she had visions of the future. She believed in her bones, this awful event was not set in some distant future; it would happen within a year or two.

As Leni sat, the unshakable feeling that the girl and Barrons were somehow involved with Ryodan's death grew stronger until she felt it smothering her. Tightening bands around her stomach made her feel nauseous. She tried to shrug off the sick sense of foreboding, but she could not. Curiously, she knew that neither Barrons or the woman had actually wanted him to die, yet they were responsible for his death.

She watched as Barrons finished a drink and walked over Ryodan, who was standing watching Sean and Tegan play pool at the table nearest to her. The two men talked for a short while, but there was a tension between them; she suspected that tension was due to her. Finally, Barrons slapped Ryodan on the back, and the two started to play at the second pool table. By this time, Tegan and Lor were playing at the first; Angus and Tegner were playing darts nearby. Ryodan racked the balls and turned to Leni giving her a brilliant smile. Her heart immediately jumped in her chest.

Bridget and Monika came back to the table with Lor and Angus' girlfriends. Monika and Bridget had gone to the restroom. The other two had stepped away to talk to another woman they both knew. All four of them had stopped on the way back to the table for a few minutes to watch their men at play. Keeping her tone neutral, Leni asked if Barrons had a steady girlfriend. Bridget shrugged; she didn't know. One of the others said she saw him from time to time with various women, but no one steady.

A cheer from the group around the pool tables caught their attention, and the girls turned to watch as Ryodan beat Barrons and racked the balls for a second game. Leni's thoughts were not on the game. She thought again of the nightmare and the vision and the conversation with Barrons from a few moments before. "You will not die, Ryodan. I won't let you," she promised.

The thought of a future in which Ryodan was dead made up her mind. Her fear that he would leave her one day to go back to Zayida no longer mattered. She had something more important to consider now: his life. She would much rather he left her for Zayida a million times over, than to see him dead. Just knowing that was like a weight being lifted from her heart and soul. All the hurt, anger and betrayal she felt all these months because of that night, was completely gone as if it had never happened.

Leni knew only one thing: she loved Ryodan and would love him forever. Besides, she reasoned, if that night had never happened, she would not be carrying Ian, and she would not change that for anything in the world. Ryodan had not truly hurt her physically that night; she had been bloodied a little and torn a little inside because she was not aroused. It was more like a bout of very rough sex which she actually enjoyed from time to time. He had hurt her heart, and he had hurt her pride. When it was over, she could feel his remorse and his shame, but she ignored it because of her own anger and hurt.

She wasn't giving up, by any means. She would fight for him; she would do whatever it took to make him want to stay with her and their son. She would do whatever it took to prevent his death. Nevertheless, even if she could not do either of those things, Ryodan was her soul mate, and she wanted whatever part of him, she could have, for as long as she could have it. She would make whatever time they had together as happy and as good as she could. She wanted it to be something he would never forget.

Leni watched Ryodan, who was laughing at something Barrons said. He was so strange, this man she loved. He was a big, powerful male, so much larger than life. He was a force of nature. He had an aura that was electric and magnetic. He was beautiful in a strange compelling way. The white scar on his neck and shoulder did not detract one whit from his beauty, it only enhanced it. Ryodan not only filled the skin he wore to the limit, he also filled the very space around him with a kind of life force that she did not understand. He owned the space around him; he just didn't occupy it. He was not human; he was an alien; perhaps it was his very alienness that attracted her.

She had been remarkably aware of him from the moment that she first saw him watching her in the airport that day. During her first two weeks in Dublin, that awareness grew until sometimes she could only see him, everything and everyone else disappeared; there was only him. That feeling came back even stronger tonight.

_When he held and rocked her against his body three nights ago in Sea Isle City, something else happened. She realized that their mutual declarations of love had permanently opened a part of her very soul to him. She could always feel him inside her mind, as she was sometimes in his. She not only felt his life force, but she was beginning to sense his emotions; she knew that he always sensed hers. _

_He is so beautiful, and I love him so much; how will I ever survive without him?_ she asked to herself.

As if awakening from a coma, deep emotions of lust and desire for him flooded her entire being. She felt a familiar liquid heat flow through her core. She was glad she was sitting because the potency of her need would have knocked her to her knees if she had been standing. Her face felt like it was on fire as she blushed remembering the feel of Ryodan's bare skin against hers; remembering the taste of his mouth; remembering how he felt inside her. Her forehead beaded with perspiration.

Ryodan's head snapped up as if it had been jerked by a rubber band. He turned toward Leni as he felt the burst of her desire flame brightly in his mind. He had always been aware of her since the first time he saw her. That awareness grew in intensity during her visit in Dublin until she was often the only person he could see. It was especially intense during the week they were together. However, he seemed to be permanently mentally bonded with her since that night in Sea Isle City. He could not break the mental tie that tied them together, although he had tried for her privacy's sake. He was super-sensitive to her feelings and emotions, as if they were his own.

His eyes widened in delight and surprise as saw her looking at him with a flush on her face. He hoped that one day her desire for him would reawaken. He didn't know when, but he was determined to be patient. Right now happiness and anticipation warmed him as her strong emotions stirred his own barely covered primal passions, and instantly he was aroused. He set the cue stick down and slowly walked toward her. She began walking toward him. Once again, no one else in the world existed but them.

When he reached her, he cupped her face in his hands. "I think it's time to go home now, don't you, Muirnin?" he whispered softly as he ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. Leni nodded; she was glad she did not have to explain. Without saying a word to anyone, the two left the pub holding hands.

"Muirnin." "Beloved." Jericho Barrons had heard Ryodan as he spoke the ancient term of endearment to Leni Hammond. He slammed his cue stick down on the pool table and stood for a minute as the feeling of defeat tasted bitter and acrid in his mouth. He turned to follow them, but Tegan stopped him with his hand.

"He loves her, Zigor. He belongs with her. They are soul mates. Can't you see that? Let them be." The ancient warrior softly said. They were alone at the pool table; the others had gone back to the tables to drink some more.

"What about Zayida and the others? What about Ariel?" Barrons said harshly.

His anger was controlled, but to Tegan it was plain. He pitied his leader; Zigor had never allowed himself to love or be loved since Ariel. He had missed out on so much.

"They are gone now, my old friend. It's time to let them rest in peace. Do you think that either Ariel or Zayida would want to see this world laid waste by the Fae? Can you possibly think any sidhe seer would want that? That's what will happen if you find your damned book and go back, and you know it. Bridget and Leni, and even Monika, are the daughters of our sidhe seer wives. There is no genetic link, of course, but these women are the inheritors of their gifts, so in that way they are their daughters."

"Your wives will hate you if they know that you allowed the Fae to destroy their daughters and this world. I know that Rhianna, and my other soul mates would. Surely, you know that too. It's long past time for you to move on, Zigor. It's time for you to love again." Tegan said wearily. He had similar conversations with Zigor many times in the past, but his old friend never listened. He doubted that he would listen now.

"No!" Barrons said savagely. "No!" He walked away.

Hours later, Ryodan lay on his bed in his underground lair holding a sleeping Leni in his arms. He thought of the events that transpired tonight, and he felt relaxed, happy and content. He did not deserve what happened tonight, but he was happy for it, nonetheless.

He had wasted no time driving home, but he began to feel nervous after they entered the empty house. His few household servants always left at dark, so no one was there but Leni and himself. He had taken her coat and hung it with his in a closet off the large foyer. She took his hand and led him through the house to the hidden door that led underground to his bedchamber.

As always a fire was laid in the huge fireplace, and lamps were softly lit. The spacious room was comfortable and cozy. Brandy in a fine crystal decanter was set on a low credenza with crystal glasses. Ryodan hit a switch and soft music from his elaborate sound system filled the air.

"Would you like to dance, Miss Hammond?" he asked formally holding out his hand to her.

"No. You know what I want Ryodan," Leni answered softly as she reached up and began to unbutton his shirt. He stepped out of his boots and let her undress him slowly, sliding her hands down his side to his waist as she unbuckled his belt and drew it out. She leaned in, pressed her face against his chest, inhaling his scent for a long time as she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and slid her hands underneath his briefs to cup the firm globes of his very masculine, slim butt.

Finally, she slipped his jeans and briefs down his legs almost to his knees. He groaned as she squeezed his butt again; his engorged penis jumped high and strong between them as it gained freedom; it rested against the warm skin of her cheek. Slowly, Leni knelt down and slid his pants and briefs pants all the way down his legs, lightly caressing the outside of each leg with both hands as she pulled them. He lifted one foot at a time as she pulled his clothing off.

As she knelt in front of him, she stroked the inside of his calves and thighs until she cupped his testicles in her small warm hands as if she were testing their weight. She rested her soft cheek once more against his upper thigh so close to his sex he could feel her breath. She stopped for a moment and inhaled his unique, spicy masculine aroma again and again. Her soft, hot, moist breath caressing his manhood nearly drove him crazy with lust for her. His large body began to quake.

Leni was shivering with the intensity of her own desire for him. She could not remember ever wanting him as much as she did at this moment. Her hand surrounded his length, squeezed lightly and released, then repeated the motion until she heard the harsh exhalation of the breath he had been holding and a deep, guttural groan. Lightly, she brushed her cheek back and forth over the heated skin at the base of his organ; his dark, curly pubic hair tickled her face. Her pregnancy knocked off her center of gravity as she started to rise, so she grabbed the back of his hips again with both small hands for greater support. She pulled her body higher and trailed light, tender kisses with a hot tongue along his harden length as she began to rise.

"Oh, God! You're killing me, Leni," he groaned and reached to pull her all the way up to embrace her, but she stepped back and began to move sensually in an erotic dance. He pulled the bed covers down and sat on the edge of the bed to watch. Dancing and swaying to the music, Leni undressed for him. Taking her time, she took off one piece at a time as if she were slowly unpeeling an orange. It was sexy; it was erotic; it was heavenly torture. Every movement she made was in time to the rhythm of the music as if it had been choreographed by a master.

"I want you to remember this night, always," she said as she closed with him.

He held his large hand out to her, and she took it. He lifted her up and placed her beside him on his old fashioned, four poster bed. Gently moving her again, he laid them both down on the silk sheets facing each other. Ryodan drew her to him. As he did so, he let out another breath that he had been holding in for a long time. His whole body was shaking with his urgent need, but he held himself in check because he was afraid to hurt her. He kissed her softly and tenderly as he stroked her back, but Leni didn't want soft and tender tonight; she wanted hard and strong.

Her mouth was demanding and hot; her nails raked his back. Her blazing tongue lit a fire in him, and he answered back harder, hungrier. His big hands moved over her soft silky skin as he pulled her even closer. He pressed his long naked body up against hers trying to touch as much of her as he could. He was panting hard now, but he pulled back after only a few seconds. "I'm so afraid that if I let myself go, I will hurt you or Ian, Leni. Please, help me to go slow," he begged.

Leni laughed softly. "I'm pregnant, not a china doll, my love. I am perfectly healthy, and I won't break. I will tell you if anything hurts, I promise. It's been so long, Ryodan. I want you so much. I need you," she moaned into his mouth. He gave her what she wanted, but carefully.

He began to kiss, lick, caress and touch every part of her body until she ached for him. By the time he sat up and pulled her onto his lap facing him, Leni's lust for him made ever nerve ending in her body scream with her need. She begged him to take her, and shuddered his name out brokenly as he slid his hard length into her tight, moist heat.

"Ah, God, Ryodan. It feels so good to have you inside me again," she whispered huskily.

His length filled her; it stretched her, and she shattered into tiny brilliant dots of light as her first orgasm roared through her. Ryodan felt the squeeze of her inner muscles on his length and almost lost it, but he managed to hold on; he didn't want to come, at least not yet. They both began to rock. She was lost to everything, except Ryodan and the pleasure that they gave each other. The raw and guttural wordless sounds of pleasure escaping his mouth as she moved on him and caressed him thrilled her.

"Christ, this feels so good, Leni. I missed it so much," he said burying his face into her shoulder.

He kissed her deeply again and again and bent to suckle her beautiful breasts. Her lush breasts were even fuller and more sensitive with her pregnancy. The feel of his mouth on her was exquisite. She moaned and arched into him trying to make him take more of her into his mouth. Hot, electric pleasure streaked from her breasts to her womb until she was aflame with it.

As she rode him, her hot sheath grabbed and pulsed along his erection sending exquisite, yet amazing silvery shivers of almost unbearable sensations through him. With every stroke, he moved deeper, slightly turning, finding another pleasure center; she had so many of them. Ryodan felt no longer sentient. His world was reduced only to the woman he held in his arms and the gloriously intense pleasure that coursed through them both. Her soft moans and cries of satisfaction urged him on.

The fire crackled and flickering light played on Leni's face; her eyes were half closed, but they were deep violet now with her passion. Ryodan held her on his lap with one arm strong arm behind her. He watched in fascination as the fine muscles in her face twitched and rippled as she responded to the pleasure he gave her. Distantly, he wondered how any man could be ever fooled by a woman faking during sex; real pleasure was always so obvious to see.

Their heated bodies were wet with sweat and their breath plumed in invisible puffs as they panted from their exertions. Only the sounds of their harsh breathing, her soft moans and his deeper, raspier groans filled the air. Finally, he felt her sheath grab him again as her core, rippled, tensed and coiled as it prepared for release. She kissed him as her muscles squeezed him tightly. Suddenly, he could feel her heated juices begin to flow like a river of lava to drench his length; her body quivered and pulsed around him.

Wanting him to come with her, Leni moved her hand down, touched the base of his penis then cupped and gently kneaded his scrotum. He erupted in waves inside her the moment her soft hand touched him. His hot essence mixed with hers and bathed her core. "I love you so much, Leni," he ground out as he came. Whispering his name, she told him how much she loved him as one final volcanic eruption exploded within her matching the strength of his own.

They made love three more times within hours; each time they used a different position, determining which was the most comfortable for her. She really liked sitting on his lap facing him, or riding on top of his prone body. Spooning sex was really good too, but they both preferred facing each other, touching each other as much as they could and looking into each other's eyes.

They were trying to make up for lost time, he knew that. He had never found a human woman whose desire and capacity for sex so closely matched his own. Leni couldn't seem to get enough of him and that pleased him, but he was concerned about her pregnancy. He joked, "Greedy aren't you, love. There's always tomorrow. It's time to let our son get some sleep."

Ian had lain quietly in her womb while they made love, but Ryodan was concerned too much sex could hurt his son no matter what the experts said.

"I wonder what he thinks is happening," Leni laughed.

"He's Draghar. He knows." Ryodan laughed back.

Afterward they held each other and talked for a long time. He tried to apologize once more for what he did at the gatehouse that night, but she shushed him. Leni knew that he had yet to forgive himself for what he had done that night; she wondered if he ever would.

"No, love. No more apologies. I was in your mind that night, I know exactly what you were thinking and feeling. A man can only take so much pain and grief before he breaks, and you broke with me that night. You could have easily killed me, but you didn't. I realized afterward that I wasn't truly hurt physically, although my pride was hurt and my heart was broken," she protested.

"Leni, I know I hurt you. I saw the pain in your eyes. I saw the blood on your leg. How can you forgive me for that?"

"How can I not? That night we made Ian. I don't regret him a moment, do you? If not for you, you must forgive yourself for my sake, for Ian's sake, and for the sake of any other children we may have." she said.

"Grandfather told me that night that great joy would come out of the pain that you would give me. He said I must forgive you. I didn't know what he meant then, but now, I do. Having you, having Ian, knowing what I know now, I would go through it all over again a hundred times, no a million times. Please believe that, Ryodan. Please forgive yourself, if only for me," she begged. Ryodan did not know what to say; he was humbled by this woman who loved him enough to forgive the terrible thing he had done to her.

Leni confessed again she had seen Zayida through his eyes that night. "I saw what you saw; I felt your pain and horror as you held her; it was far worse than anything that you did to me. I understand why you did what you did, and I forgive you, Ryodan," she said simply.

"Tell me about her. Please tell me about Zayida," she asked softly. He was hesitant at first, but he did. The words began to pour out. He was glad when he was done; talking about Zayida to Leni was cathartic. It released a burden on his heart, and he felt lighter. He felt good.

"She sounds like a wonderful woman, Ryodan. She taught you to love; I know that. I could see in her eyes how much she loved you. I think she would want you to love again, and I think she would be happy for you now." she said.

"I know she would, Leni. I think you two would have liked each other a lot if you knew each other." Ryodan was surprised at that thought, but he knew it was true. Zayida would have liked Leni.

"I saw Zigor talking to you earlier. Yesterday, I told him that I'm am staying here with you. He wasn't too pleased, but he must accept my decision. What did you two talk about?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular. He just wanted to introduce himself. We never really met before," she replied. Ryodan knew she wasn't telling the complete truth, but he did not press her.

"Does he have a girlfriend that looks something like Bridget?" Leni asked.

"No. Not that I know of. Why?"

"I thought I saw him once with a girl who reminded me of my cousin. She seemed to be in love with him. Her face was familiar, but I just couldn't place her. No matter. I guess I was wrong."

Later that night, Leni had the nightmare again. She watched as Ryodan's bloodied body was thrown off the cliff to land on rocks in the river more than 100 feet below. The rapids of the river poured around him washing the blood away showing deep gashes crisscrossing his chest and neck. As the top of the cliff came back into view, the girl she saw in her vision was staring down at the body of a great naked manlike beast with slate gray leathery skin. The thing was huge; it had a triple set of horns on the back of its head and webbed feet and hands that had talons instead of fingers. A spear was sticking out of its back.

Next she watched as the girl pulled the spear out of the beast's back; and the thing morphed into a man. The girl turned it over. Leni gasped at what she saw; the man was Jericho Barrons. His throat had been slit; he was flayed open from belly to sternum. His guts were hanging out. The girl laid down beside him, crying as she embraced him and whispered to him. Leni could not hear what she was saying, but the girl's grief was painful to watch; it was almost unbearable.

Much later, the girl the girl stood, tipped her head back and a loud inhuman howl roared out of her mouth, growing in intensity and volume as it filled the air. In the distance, wild animals raised their own howls in accompaniment. It was the eeriest and saddest sound Leni had ever heard. The sound of the girl's gut wrenching grief was horrible. It reminded her of a high keening, screeching wind during a terrible wind storm. It was the kind of sound that made her grandmother shudder and mumble "Banshee."

It kept growing ever louder as grief and loss poured out, but Leni could hear the sound of guilt in her howl too. Leni suddenly understood as she pictured the battle that preceded Ryodan's fall and the beast's death. Ryodan fought Jericho Barrons in his beast form. They moved in a blur. Ryodan used knives and vicious looking weapons that sprung from his silver cuffs; the beast used only his deadly fangs and talons; its eyes were yellow and insane with madness. The beast seemed to be winning.

She watched as Ryodan laid the beast's belly open and slit its throat. Ryodan fell, but managed to climb back up to the top of the cliff. She watched as the girl stabbed the beast in the back with her strange spear before it managed to throw Ryodan over the cliff to the rocks in the water below. The beast turned to look at the girl before it finally collapsed. There was sense of confusion and betrayal in its ferocious yellow eyes.

The nightmare seemed to last an eternity, but in reality, it lasted only a few long seconds. Leni screamed Ryodan's name over and over. He sat up in bed and pulled her to him, embracing her as she covered his face with kisses and wet tears. After she calmed down, Leni told him again about her nightmare, but she gave all the details tonight. When she described the dead beast and how it changed into Barrons, he stiffened. He wondered how she could see that, even in a dream. Draghar had not shifted in front of a human in thousands of years.

"The beast you have described is what all Draghar look like in our natural form, Leni; you know we are shapeshifters. I can't imagine fighting with Zigor like that. He is our leader. I don't know this girl you have seen. I am not sure what this dream means, if anything." He expected to see a look of disgust and rejection in her eyes, but he didn't. She held onto him tightly.

"I am so afraid you will die because of Barrons and that girl. I am so afraid," she cried.

"Not possible, Leni. We Draghar are an immortal race, so we cannot die. It's not possible, Muirnin. Don't worry; it's only a bad dream," he patted her back and consoled her as he thought about the strange things she had told him. Leni knew he wasn't telling the whole truth either.

The next evening, Ryodan asked Leni to marry him. She accepted.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

At nine o'clock the next night, Leni and Ryodan walked into a full blown melee in Marty's Pub. Four rough looking men and two women were fighting. Fists, feet, glasses, bottles, dishes and cutlery were flying everywhere. Several patrons were scrambling hard trying to get out of the way, but one man, who sat a table nearby, never moved a muscle.

The males were all middle aged, big, barrel chested men who looked like bulls. They had huge muscled arms, paunchy bellies and unshaven faces. The two women were middle aged also. They were hard looking and plump with gelled, straw colored hair and overly made up faces. They were dressed in short, skin tight clothes that were meant for much younger women. They all smelled of beer and whiskey, and they were all obviously drunk.

They were Irish and hurling obscenities in both Gaelic and English. Some of the words Leni had never heard before, but those she understood were pretty descriptive. Some of the invectives made her want to laugh as she pictured them in her mind. It appeared the six were fighting over an insult one of the men made to one of the women. The women were all over each other, scratching, biting and pulling hair.

Ryodan and Leni moved toward the back of the pub to the table they usually took. Bridget and Tegan were already sitting there with Lor and Angus and their girlfriends. Tegner and Monika came in behind them. They all watched for a few minutes as the fight progressed. Leni noted the Draghar men all seem to be fascinated by the violence, especially Lor and Angus. In a way, they all seemed to be aroused by it.

A harsh whistle blew and a group of Garda burst in and took the four men and the two women into custody. The hooligans faught and cursed, but the police soon overcame their resistance. As the fighters were arrested, Uncle Marty stood at the bar in the center surveying the small swath of damage caused by the fight and shaking his head. He had a disgusted look on his face. Walking over to a booth not far from Leni's table, Uncle Marty began talking to a woman that Leni did not know. She was eating a hamburger and fries and had a glass of wine in front of her.

The woman had short, light brown, curly hair and eyes the color of blue cornflowers rimmed with a band of darker blue. Her eyes were truly beautiful, but they had a sad haunted look as if she had recently suffered a loss. Uncle Marty asked the woman for help, and she nodded and stood. She was was wearing nice black slacks, a blue silk blouse, a gray, black and blue plaid blazer and high heels. Her face had only a hint of cosmetics, but then she did not need much. The woman was very pretty in an elegant, but understated way. She looked to be in her late twenties, about 5'9" with a slim, but good figure. She looked like a no nonsense sort of person who was used to taking charge of serious situations.

The woman handed Uncle Marty some keys, and he called one of the waitresses over and handed them to her. The waitress left the pub and came back a couple of minutes later carrying a large black medical bag. The woman was already at sitting near her first patient with clean cloth and a metal basin filled with soap and water; she was ready to work. She was talking softly to him, asking mundane questions and observing his responses. Leni knew what the woman was doing, she had done the same thing many times herself with patients in the E.R.

As soon as her bag was handed to her, the woman snapped on a pair of surgical gloves and got started. She was very graceful and moved with purpose and the assurance of a person who knew exactly what she was doing; she was clearly a doctor. She talked in a charming southern accent to the patrons as she worked. Her voice was low and musical. When she started working, Leni moved to help, but Ryodan held her fast to his side.

Minutes later, the woman had cleaned and bandaged minor wounds and scrapes from all the injured, but one. The last injured patron was the man sitting at the table closest to the fight. He was a Draghar warrior that Leni had never seen before. As soon as she saw his face, she knew instantly what he was. He was big and dark and exuded that same kind of electricity and sexuality that all the Draghar males did, but his dark eyes made Leni shiver. They were filled with unfathomable grief.

He sat there immobile as the doctor cared for him. She cleaned the blood off his forehead near his hairline, all the while talking softly to him, but he never responded once. Since the doctor faced away, Leni could not hear what she said. The man sat like a statue never saying a word. He did not move or flinch as she cleaned his wound and used a small utensil to pick glass out of his scalp. After a few minutes, he imperceptibly sniffed the air around her. Leni saw his eyes flicker once when he did that.

His wound was little deeper than the others, but she did not seem to think it was too serious. She put two butterfly bandages on his forehead to close the wound, took his chin in her hands, turned his head from to right to left and nodded as if satisfied with what she saw. With her other hand, she opened each of his eyes wide and shined a small penlight flashlight into them to check his reaction.

"You'll live," she said as she smiled at him.

Leni had watched doctors and nurses work on patients many times over the years; she had worked the same way herself, but for some reason this simple scene really got to her. She stared as the Draghar warrior reacted for the second time. He cupped the doctor's gloved hand with his larger one and moved it to his nose. He sniffed again and licked the skin above her wrist as if he was tasting her. It was a most curious thing to watch. Leni expected the woman to flinch away, but for some reason the doctor only smiled again. Kasteo's eyes closed for the briefest of seconds as some unknown emotion played over his face. He looked deeply into the doctor's eyes and nodded, but he was still silent.

He was looking in her direction as she walked away. His eyes no longer had that vacant stare, but there was no way to tell what he was thinking, or even if he was thinking. The doctor walked toward the ladies' room; when she came out, she sat back down at her table and finished eating. When she was done, she placed some bills on the table, got up and walked out. She waved to Uncle Marty before she stepped through the door. The big Draghar warrior stood up and followed her.

"Who is he?" Leni asked.

"Kasteo," Ryodan answered quietly; he was looking at Kasteo strangely, so were Lor, Angus and Tegan. Leni felt a wave of sympathy. She had heard that name for the first time only this morning. She understood the earlier look on his face, and she pitied him.

When Uncle Marty came over to their table, Leni asked who the doctor was. "That's Megan McCormack; she's an American and a good woman. She was married to my nephew, John McCormack, for five years. John and their two year old son, Johnny, Jr. was killed by a tornado that hit Houston. She brought their bodies back for burial and never left; she says there's nothing left for her in the States anymore. She works at Beaumont Hospital now.

There was sympathy in Uncle Marty's voice as he spoke about Megan McCormack. He clearly liked her. Leni had never heard of Megan or her Uncle Marty's nephew, but that was hardly surprising; his wife came from very big Irish family.

Outside, Megan McCormack turned the corner to get to her car which was parked on the side of Marty's next to one of the pub's many windows. The car was parked under a street lamp, and as she opened the door, a large shadow fell across her door. She looked up. The the strange, silent man she had tended inside was standing there. He looked at her, as if he knew her, but she knew she had never seen him before in her life.

"Are you okay?" she asked. She wasn't frightened. He nodded and held out his hand. She took it. His hand was warm and electric; his touch felt familiar somehow. A memory of this man sweating and panting above her and smiling into her eyes as they made love flared brightly in her mind; it was a good, warm, wonderful memory. She knew that was impossible because she had never met this man before. A strong familiar wave of desire grew in her. She wanted this man intensely, and she knew he wanted her the same way.

"Are you okay? Do I know you?" she asked. "Do you need a ride home?" He was silent, but he shook his head. Megan noted his eyes were no longer blank. They were curious, faintly shocked, and they were happy.

Finally, she said, "Do you want to come home with me?" She spoke so quietly, she almost did not hear herself say the words. He nodded and smiled.

Staid, conservative, twenty nine year old Doctor Megan McCormack, who had never done a truly reckless thing in her life, did the most reckless and dangerous thing a woman could ever could do. She invited a complete stranger to her bed. She knew instinctively it was the right thing to do. In some curious way, she knew that they both belonged together.

Leni sat next to Ryodan and watched the scene unfolding outside the window of the pub. They watched as Kasteo and Megan McCormack got into her car and drove off with Kasteo driving. The others were watching intently too. Tegan pulled Bridget close and kissed her on the forehead. A knowing look shown on his face, and he smiled. Leni stared openly at Ryodan, Lor, Angus and Tegner. They all had a shocked look on their faces.

"I haven't seen Kasteo with a woman since..." someone said. The sentence was never completed, but Leni knew the end of it just the same.  
"

A few minutes later, Ryodan hugged her and announced their engagement and their plans to marry on November 24th. Leni showed everyone the beautiful, perfect diamond surrounded by amethysts that Ryodan had given her as an engagement ring. It seems he had picked it up in London before he and Tegan flew to Sea Isle City less than a week ago.

The alcohol was flowing and the table was abuzz with small talk, although Bridget and she were not drinking. They had been chatting lightly while she thought about the man beside her and the strange Draghar male, Kasteo. She covertly watched the four other Draghar males Tegan, Lor, Angus and Tegner sitting at the table. Tegan and Tegner had been happy to hear the news about their engagement, Lor and Angus, she wasn't so sure about.

She had met Zigor, Jericho Barrons, but there were other Draghar males she had yet to meet. She had seen Kasteo tonight. Now, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to meet any more of them. They were all dangerous and violent, these Draghar males, including Ryodan. There were things about them that she knew now that she wished she didn't know. There were things that worried her now that she had not even imagined before. The world was not the simple place it seemed to be last April.

The events of the past few days had seemed more than surreal to her as she sat musing. Last night, Ryodan had confirmed it was impossible for him to die, despite what she saw in her nightmare. It was one thing to hear it from Danal, or even Bridget; it was quite another to hear him say so. That made it so much more strange.

This morning Ryodan had tattooed her on the nape of her neck underneath her hairline. The red, black and silver tattoo had the outline of a strange beast with three sets of horns. In the center of the the beast's powerful chest there was an elegant cursive "R". She knew this beast; it was Ryodan in his natural form. The tattoo had runes around it for added protection.

She had asked Ryodan why he wanted to tattoo her. "You are mine, and I must put my mark on you, so I can always find you if you ever need me. Your Fae cuff can be taken from you easily by someone with power, but a tattoo is harder to remove. If you ever need me, touch your tattoo and speak my name, I will find you no matter where you are. I may take time, so never despair; I will always find you."

The thought of having a tattoo removed made her shiver. If it ever came to that, she was sure that whoever was doing the removing would deliberately make it as painful as possible. Still, she liked the idea of having Ryodan's mark; he told her he had not marked a woman since Zayida.

He had placed a second, but smaller tattoo on her lower belly, near her groin. It was almost obscured by the curly blonde hair that grew there. "Sorry, Muirnin, but no bikini waxes for you. This one is a decoy, but still it can't be too easy to find."

He had touched her skin and murmured in a strange language before he used his inks. She felt no pain at all as she did when she had the unicorn tattooed on her navel. While he worked on her, his touch was soothing and relaxing. When he was finished, she was surprised that the skin around the marks was not red or inflamed. The tattoos looked like they had been there forever. While he worked on her, they talked more about the nightmare that she had last night.

"Can I put my mark on you?" she finally asked when he was finished. Ryodan laughed, but together they tattooed her name and a unicorn over his heart.

Everything was not lighthearted. Ryodan was worried, she could tell. He said that she could never tell anyone about her nightmare. "It is a matter of life or death, Leni. Yours. The other Draghar will kill you if they ever find what you know." She pressed him for more information, but he clammed up tightly. Leni pressed him again, but to no avail.

"I cannot say more. It is too dangerous for you now as it is. The simple fact that I have decided to marry you is dangerous for you, but I will protect you. I swear I will."

"But I don't understand. Bridget knows what you are and so does Sean. Tegan isn't going to kill them. He and Danal would not allow the others to. Perhaps your friends should be aware that Danal is our grandfather."

"Leni, Danal is not more powerful than a Draghar, nor does he know everything about us. He can never be allowed certain knowledge. He is considered an enemy to the Draghar, so the others, except Zigor, must never know you have his blood. That would put you in even more danger. Danal has placed a protection spell around you so we can't smell your Draghar blood. He put one around Bridget and Sean too. Tegan has added a second one as well, and now I have added a third, but it wouldn't take much for a determined Draghar to break through those protection spells. The fact that you are mine, would not stop them from trying to kill you; it would make them more determined to do so."

"Please understand that by loving you, Bridget and Monika, Tegan, Tegner and I have put all three of you in grave danger, but our love for you has made us weak. We have decided that we do not want to live without you, especially since you carry our children. The fact that for the first time in two thousand years, the three of you are pregnant with half Draghar children may be the only thing that keeps you safe as long as the others do not suspect you know what we are."

"We are intensely sexual beings. We have had many women since our families lived, but with only a few exceptions, we have not allowed ourselves to love these women. It wasn't just the loss of our wives and families that kept us from truly loving again. It was the fear of being found out. Since that time, we have done some terrible things to protect our secrets. We have even killed a woman that one of us loved. We have killed other women for much less than that, just for getting too close to one of us has not been permitted for two millenia." Ryodan stated matter of factly.

"But, Tegan..." Leni started before another terrible thought flashed through her mind. "Oh my God, Ryodan. Are you telling me that other Draghar killed your wives and children, not the Unseelie King?"

"No, Leni. The Unseelie King is the one who killed our families. Back then there were so many of us. Most people, including our women, thought of us as gods. Our women were proud to be our chosen mates, and we protected them well. They knew much about us, but certainly not all. There are certain things no one can know, but us; it is too risky. It is different now. We are very few, and people do not worship the old gods anymore." Ryodan continued.

"What about Tegan?" Leni asked.

"Tegan has allowed himself to love again many times. He met his first soul mate, Rhianna, a thousand years before Zayida. He did not lose a wife or a family when we did, but he always knew what we were capable of doing. I suspect Rhianna had second sight and warned him to keep his women well hidden from us. Since that time, he has lived away from us much of of the time, never joining us unless called by Zigor. We often go our own ways for years and years at a time. We are all here now because Zigor says the book is here and the time is close to go back."

"I suspect that during most of the time that Tegan was not with us, he had a wife or a woman that he loved, but he always managed to keep her existence a secret from us. Others have not hidden their mates and have suffered terribly for it. Kasteo was one; he has never been the same since we killed the woman he loved more than a thousand years ago. He has never said a word since then. His grief is a living thing and he hates us for what we did to her. He tried to stop us, but he could not. I participated in that killing, you should know that"

"We all hate each other for what we have done to the women in the last two thousand years. Hell, we hate ourselves even worse. Sometimes, we can't even stand to look at each other, but we are tied together for eternity. If we find the book, Kasteo will bring his woman back too." Ryodan's tone was bitter as he explained.

'Tegan was smart not to let us know that he loved any woman until Bridget came along and got pregnant. When he first annouced he was going to marry her, Lor, Angus, Zigor and I discussed killing her, but we were reluctant and did not even try. The few of us who actually met Bridget knew she was pregnant weeks before Tegan confirmed it to us, but we did not think it was his child; we thought all Draghar males were now sterile. Zigor said he would not allow us to harm her if there was even a small possibility that she was pregnant with a half Zaghar child. Besides, Tegan swore from the beginning that she did not know what we are and never would. We chose to believe him; perhaps we were just sick of what we had done in the past."

"Within two weeks, I knew that she was carrying his son; I spent the most time with them, and I could smell his blood in her womb. Centuries ago, Tegan told both Zigor and me that he had impregnated two other women he called soul mates who had died in childbirth, but we did not believe him. You cannot know what Bridget's pregnancy meant to us. With all the women we have had sex with in the last two thousand years, we never got one pregnant. Perhaps that was because they were not sidhe seers. We thought we were the last of our kind, that there would never be more. There is finally hope that we can have families again, even if we don't go back, but it hasn't truly sunk in yet. Tegan believes it will change us for the better, that it will finally end the hate between us, but I don't know. " Ryodan was candid about his admission, and it chilled Leni to the bone.

"Do you still want to kill Bridget?" she asked.

"No. Of course not, but that does not mean the others won't if they find out that she knows what we are. Tegan has sworn that Bridget knows nothing of us; he has sworn that she will think he is aging naturally just as his other women did because he will put that suggestion in her mind. I will swear the same thing about you."

"Zigor is our leader; he is the one who declared it was forbidden to love a human. He sets the rules, and he can change them if he wishes, but Zigor is not the only one we have to worry about. Some of us are much more committed to killing humans who find out about us than others. Some would probably kill just for the joy of killing."

"Tegan and I will fight if anyone tries to harm you, so will Tegner and even Kasteo; I am sure of it. Zigor knows now there will be eternal war among the nine of us if they try to harm any of you, and no one wants that. Zigor knows too that Danal is your grandfather. He knows that Danal and his Fae will fight alongside us if anything happens to you or Bridget. So, he is trying hard to accept Tegan's wa. I believe he will do the right thing eventually; he has lost women he has cared about, but no one can be truly sure about him. So you see, the less you know, the better it is for all of us, my love.

"Leni, no other Draghar knows about Danal, except Zigor, Tegan and me. It's important that they don't. Even if they suspect that you are part Fae, no one should know what Danal told you. I am sure Tegan has made it clear to both Bridget and Sean not to discuss any part of that night with anyone. If he could, he would wipe their minds of that knowledge."

'He can do that? Can you?" Leni looked stunned.

Ryodan nodded. "With most humans, we can, but since you are part Fae, we can't seem to do it. We have both tried; I tried to remove your knowledge that we are immortal last night while we made love, but it didn't work?" he said sheepishly.

Leni did not like the idea that Ryodan tried to mess with her memories, and she told him so. Nevertheless, she wasn't all that angry. She knew that what he had attempted was for her safety. She would have done the same thing in his place.

She slept for a few hours after the tattooing. When she woke up, Ryodan was there beside her with an engagement ring. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes.

At ten after nine, Moira Harkness sat at the bar in Marty's Pub waiting for James Donnelly again. Ryodan had just announced he was going to marry Leni Hammond. She heard the cries of congratulations as a crowd formed around them. She was beside herself with envy and jealousy. For a while her mind wandered.

"Franny Fuckface! Fanny Fuckface! Franny Fuckface! Franny Fuckface!"

The words to the old taunt chanted in high boyish voices were strong in her mind tonight. One of the voices belonged to her only real childhood friend, her neighbor, ten year old Tony Grisham. Tony's brown eyes were full of pity and concern, but still he taunted her in front of his two new friends just the same.

One of the boys pushed her down on the broken sidewalk in front of her house. She scraped her knee and got her face dirty. Her knee was bleeding and it stung. The three boys stood over her and laughed as ten year old Frances Ursula Constance Kennedy started to cry; she was terrified.

"Why are you doing this, Tony?" Her small voice piped. "I thought you were my friend."

"He's not your friend anymore, Fuckface; he is ours. We don't like you; you're crazy like your mother. Your mama killed your crazy brother, so he don't like you either." Pimply faced, thirteen year old Tommy Johnson said. His young voice blistered with scorn. He both attracted to and hated the small pretty green eyed redheaded girl since she moved into the neighborhood two months ago. She had the devil inside her; he was sure of it.

She was a beautiful little thing, with creamy white skin and long, shiny red hair. Her green eyes seemed to see things no one else did. And her chest, oh, God! She was just starting to get little breasts; and they showed under her cotton T-shirt. They looked so soft; he wanted to touch them. She made him feel funny inside whenever he looked at her. He wanted to touch her in places his mother said were bad. He felt so strange and tingly and hot and hard in his groin whenever she was near.

Last week, he told his father about this, and Daddy laughed. Daddy told Momma, and Momma said it was a sin. She said that Frannie was evil, just like her mother. She told Father Jonas at the church. Father Jonas looked at him sadly and said it was a sin too and made him go to confession. Mama told some of the other women in the neighborhood, and now everyone knew. He was humiliated, all because of this crazy girl.

He was the one who started calling her "Frannie Fuckface." He was the one who found out her name was Frances Ursula Constance Kennedy, and it was too funny to resist. He looked down at her now, and he wanted to touch her and have her touch him, even though she was sitting there crying with a bloodied knee and big gobs of dirt on her face. She was evil for making him feel this way. It was her fault. He knew it. He hated her, but he wanted her. He was mixed up and did not understand all those feelings.

"Crazy Mayzie! Crazy Mayzie! Crazy Mayzie. Your mother is crazy, Frannie Fuckface. She killed your brother. You're crazy too. They will take you away to the funny farm and lock you up just like they did her." Bobby Johnson, Tommy's nine year old brother laughed. His voice was malicious and mean.

"She's hurt, Tommy. Let's leave her alone, please; let's go home now." Tony pleaded with the two other boys. He hated what he, Tommy and Bobby were doing to Frannie, but he had wanted to show off for them. He wanted to be part of their gang in the worst way.

Frannie understood that as she looked up at him through tear stained eyes. The three boys walked away and left her sitting there. She had liked Tony from the moment she saw him that first day after her parents moved here. He came over and introduced himself. He was the only friend she had ever had. The only one who did not care that her brother was retarded.

She had thought it would be different when they moved from GlenLea, a small town in Nova Scotia to Vancouver, and it had been. She finally found a friend, and for a while everything was great. That is until two weeks ago when her mother killed her brother, Jamie. Now Tony was just like the rest, and she hated him.

James Vincent Kennedy, Jr. was seven years old when he died. He was like an angel. He was an overgrown chubby baby. He had the broad face, the slanted eyes and the sweet nature of innocence. Frannie Kennedy loved her little brother, Jamie, more than anything else in this life. He was the only person in this world who loved her unconditionally. Her father, James Vincent Kennedy Sr, loved him too. Her mother, May Ursula Brown Kennedy, didn't, but then her mother didn't like her either.

"Freak! Mongoloid! Retard!" Her mother had screamed that day two weeks ago as she had so many times before. Jamie was afraid of his own mother. Mommy hit Jamie; she hit him a lot. She tried to tell Daddy, but he wouldn't listen.

Jamie had broken a Limoges figurine from her mother's fancy collection. He didn't mean to, but he loved pretty things, and he touched it. It slipped from his sticky, chubby fingers and smashed on the wood floor of the parlor. Her mother ran in from the kitchen and saw Frannie trying to clean the broken shards up. She started screaming names and obscenities. When Frannie saw the look on her mother's face, she put herself in front of Jamie.

"Fwannie, I'm scaaed," Jamie said piteously. "Fwannie..." He tried to hide in her skirt.

"I did it, mama. I'm so sorry." She held out her hands to be spanked. Frannie was frightened for her brother and tried to protect him as she always did, but her mother was strong. She easily pushed her ten year old daughter out of the way and grabbed her son by the arms. She had seen who had broken her precious knicknack, and he was going to be punished, but good.

May Kennedy was watching her two children from the kitchen. She never wanted kids; she hated them both because her husband, James, loved them. They took his attentions away from her, and that she would never accept because she loved him so much. Sometimes she hated her husband too; he had her locked away in sanitarium for six whole months after she had Frannie, and again for almost a year right after Jamie.

"Schizophrenia," the doctors concluded. She had a total psychotic break with reality after Frannie was born and started hallucinating. She thought Jamie was possessed and tried to drown her. She had to be locked up for her own good. They gave her anti-psychotics, and they gave her shock treatments. May Kennedy hated James for that.

She knew a little something about mental illness, after all her father was a noted psychiatrist, and she had studied to be one herself for three years before dropping out to marry James. She disagreed with her doctor's diagnosis. So what if she acted la little funny after having Frannie. Many women are depressed after giving birth, even her own mother was depressed after each of her three children.

May knew she really went crazy after Jamie's birth, but decided who wouldn't after giving birth to a freak like that? The doctors called it Down's Syndrome, but he was just a plain old Mongoloid retard that her body had spit out. His nanny said she had tried to kill him too, but she didn't remember that. She had been in the sanitarium for over nine months that time, but had been all right for years. Earlier that morning, she found out that she was pregnant again, and her hormones were going wild. The brats got on her nerves, especially Jamie.

Frannie watched in horror as her mother snatched Jamie away from her. There was a grimace of hate on her face as she shook him back and forth until his head rattled. She was screaming names and curses at him. Suddenly, she dropped him. Jamie's head hit the end of the coffee table with a sickening smack. There was blood all over.

"Fwannie. I hurt." Jamie said. "Fwannie... I'm scared," he said, but the word came out scaaed. He never could say "r." His eyes went blank before he went totally still. Frannie screamed and screamed. Her mother just stood there with a blank look on her face.

She didn't remember much after that. Mrs. Tillman, their live in nanny, came running down the stairs. She saw what happened and called the police and her father.

James Kennedy was standing next to his daughter in the doorway when the ambulance came and took her mother away. She was wrapped up in a funny white jacket that tied in the back, and she was screaming. Another ambulance came and took her brother's body away. The neighbors were all outside watching the whole show.

Three days later, James Vincent Kennedy, Jr. was laid to rest in Calvary Lutheran cemetery back in GlenLea. Frannie and her father stayed at her Aunt Mary Kennedy's home for two days before the funeral. It was a large gathering of the Kennedy family, the Browns and nosy onlookers from the town. They all heard what had happened and came to gawk. On the afternoon of the funeral, she had heard Aunt Mary ask her father why he allowed her mother to carry two children to term.

"She has bad blood, James. You never should have married her, and you never should have had children with her. You know that. Her mother died in a sanitarium, so did one of her sisters and her aunt. Now look what she has done. She killed Jamie." Aunt Mary cried brokenly. She had truly loved Jamie. She took care of him most of the time until James and May moved to Vancouver. Jamie had been such a sunny baby. "How could May do this to him?" she asked as she sobbed.

"I love her, Mary. I know what she is, but I love her anyway. God, please forgive me," her father answered. That was when Frannie knew her father was responsible for what happened. She had loved her father with all her heart before Jamie's death; she hated him just as much now.

After being tormented by the three boys, Frannie walked into the house. Mrs. Tillman was crying inside the living room. Her father was there. They did not even look at the blood on her legs and clothes.

"Frannie, I have some something important to tell you. Your mama is in heaven with Jamie now," her father said.

Frannie wanted to laugh out loud; she knew what that meant. "I'm glad she's dead. She deserved to die for killing Jamie," she said vehemently.

"Frannie!" Mrs. Tillman and her father exclaimed. They were shocked at her vehemence. Frannie went upstairs to bed. Months later, in Ireland, Frannie found out that her mother had somehow managed to escape from her padded cell. She found a scalpel and slit her wrists. She was lying dead in a shower stall when two orderlies found her. Frannie did not care.

Frannie was glad her mother was dead. She had hated her for what she did to Jamie, but she hated her father even more. That night, she slipped into her parent's bedroom with a candle and matches in her hand. Her father was still dressed, but lying across the bed in a drunken stupor, mourning his wife. Frannie lit the candle and set the curtains on fire. Within minutes, the whole house was ablaze. By the time that the fireman got here, it was all over. Her father, Mrs. Tillman, and two servants were dead. Ten year old Francis was the only survivor.

"Everyone in the neighborhood knew that James and May loved to use candles. "He was drunk; he was grieving. It was a terrible accident. Poor girl, she is an orphan now." They all sympathized with the beautiful redheaded girl.

Frannie was shipped off to England to live with her mother's only living relative, Aunt Margaret, and Uncle Michael Harkness. They kept calling her "Moira" after a daughter who died a year ago. Frannie was the spitting image of her dead cousin; they would not call her anything else. Af first it bothered Frannie, but soon she didn't care; she hated her name anyway, so what was the big deal.

One year after she moved to Ireland, "Frannie Fuckface" ceased to exist. She was officially Moira Megan Harkness. Micky Harkness had all the official documents changed to show that Frances Ursula Constance Kennedy died two years ago, not Moira. It was as if his daughter, Moira, had never died. He was able to do this because he had connections. He was part of the Irish mob, and he always got what he wanted.

The Harkness family moved to Dublin soon after. All ties to the Kennedy family in Canada were completely erased as if they never existed. Micky Harkness tied himself to Roarke O'Bannion and "up and comer" in the underworld. He made a lot of money; the family lived well.

When she was fourteen, Aunt Maggie died after being diagnosed bipolar. She took an overdose of pills. Micky Harkness married again a year later, but Moira was always his "Little Girl." His second wife divorced him after six months. Moira managed to push her out, and she knew it. Micky loved Moira more than he had ever loved his own biological daughter. He doted on her. He gave her everything, clothes, jewelry, good schools, a college education, cars, vacations in Europe, etc. Everything a daughter could want.

Moira was a daughter to him, but he knew from the beginning that there was something terribly wrong with the beautiful redheaded girl he loved. She wasn't able to love anyone, not even him. That killed him. He told her that on his deathbed in the hospital. They were alone; she smiled as she smothered him with a pillow. Moira Harkness was a rich woman. She was twenty one, and she was Micky Harkness' only heir.

"Fwannie... I hurt... Fwannie... I'm scaaed."

"Frannie Fuckface! Frannie Fuckface! Frannie Fuckface!"

Moira Harness sat at the bar in Marty's Pub. Her brother's tiny voice tormented her now, just as the voices of the three young bullies tormented her twenty five years ago. "Why now?" she wondered. She hadn't heard that voice in her head for more than five years.

Michael Harkness was wrong. She was able to love. When she was little, she had poured all the love she had to give into one small mentally handicapped, physically challenged child. She had loved her biological father until she found out that he let her mother kill Jamie. Much later she loved a tall, dark, strong man. She had never loved anyone else, but Jamie, her father and Ryodan. Everyone else was just something to be used to get what she wanted.

She was very young when she figured out she was a sociopath, but she liked being what she was. She had gone through a lot of men by the time she met Ryodan. She even married one for a year and had her tubes tied. She didn't want to bring anymore Frannie Fuckfaces into the world, not because she really cared about her illness, but because she was too selfish to have children, and she knew it.

She started a real estate business and was doing well. She kept getting richer and richer. Her boyfriends were always so generous; they gave her what she wanted, and she wanted a lot. In Dublin, her father had hooked up tight with Rocky O'Bannion, and she kept up those ties. She had sex with him once in a while for years and gave him a nice piece of her real estate business in exchange for favors. She would have to call in a few more favors soon.

Jamie was dead, killed by their own mother. Her father was dead; killed by her own hand. Ryodan would never love her; he told her so himself. He loved that little blonde bitch, Leni Hammond, who would soon become his wife. The two of them were sitting in the back with Tegan and Bridget and some other friends having a grand old time.

"She will never have him. I will kill her first." Moira grimaced to herself as James Doherty walked up to her and sat down."

It's good news about your old friend; isn't it, Moira?" James said tightly and watched her face closely.

"They look happy together, don't they?" he asked.

Moira gave him a sharp look. His eyes held a lot of pain as he talked to her. She always suspected James knew exactly how she felt about Ryodan, but he never said a word. He didn't care. He loved her and wanted her to love him the way she loved Ryodan, but she never would. She scowled.

"Let him go, darling. I love you. I will always love you. I will always be here for you." James said.

"I know, dear. I hope they will be very happy together." Moira said as she gently patted his hand. Her mind was already planning ahead. She was going to kill Leni Hammond, one way or another, if it was the last thing she ever did. She was also going to kill this pig who sat beside her, but first they had to get married. James told her he was going to make out a new will as soon as they got married. He was a rich man too, and she would get it all.

Ryodan had always been impressed with her business acumen. Without "Blondie" in the way, maybe if she had more money, Ryodan would want her again.

Moira leaned over and kissed James more passionately than she ever had before. James thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was so happy: his Moira; his beautiuful Moira, finally loved him.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The next couple of weeks were an adjustment for Leni and her animals, but she was happier than she had ever been in her life. She liked living with Ryodan and getting to know him. For such a powerful man, he was surprisingly tender and loving. When they were alone, he could also be a very romantic man. The man she got to know in private was so different from the man he was in public.

During that time, Leni soon realized that Delilah had abandoned her for Ryodan. The old feline was still upset over being uprooted and forced to travel in circumstances that she clearly felt were beneath her dignity. Delilah hated cages of any sort. Taking her to the vet for shots or other treatment had always been a full blown battle.

Delilah almost completely ignored Leni now. In the evenings, Delilah would make herself comfortable in Ryodan's lap while he purred for her;. She barely tolerated Leni petting her, and gave her a haughty look when she tried. Even Ian's purring did not tempt the cat to forgive her mistress. Ryodan got a big kick out of that and teased her.

"See, you know who's the master here; don't you, girl?" he said as he petted her. He and the animal seem to be on the same wave length in some strange way. Leni only shook her head at that.

The old cat had been used to sleeping with Leni, as was Sampson, but Ryodan would not allow that. The animals were relegated to the house above. Two pet beds were put down in the mudroom for them to sleep on, but when Leni came upstairs each morning to take her daily run, she found Delilah curled up and sleeping on Sampson. Usually,she had her head burrowed in the puppy's neck, or she laid close to his stomach. Some days, Delilah gave her a disgusted look as if to say, "See how low you have brought me?" It made Leni laugh. Mrs. Tigh, Ryodan's housekeeper laughed too.

Sampson took to his new surroundings better. Ryodan had acres of property around the mansion, and the dog loved to run with Leni every day. Watching Sampson explore his new environment was a delight to see; everyday there seem to be a new discovery. He was as curious as a child. Occasionally, Ryodan ran with Leni and Sampson, but on most days, one of the Druid bodyguards he employed followed behind as unobtrusively as he could..

Sampson did not make the change without some problems, however. He became exceedingly anxious and a little spiteful whenever Leni left the mansion. He was used to her being at home most of the time in New Jersey. Now she left the house almost every day to go to work or to meet with Bridget. Sampson began to soil and chew on the expensive rugs and furniture while she was gone.

Mrs. Tigh tried to stop him, but as soon as her back was turned, Sampson was back at it. When Leni came home, the big puppy always ran to her, jumped up on her, then wiggled around of the floor, yipped and let out a string of funny long drawn out whines and squeals. It was as if he was saying he thought for sure she had abandoned him, and he was so overjoyed to see her again. It was a cute until Leni and Ryodan found the damage he had done that day.

Sampson had been fully housebroken, and Leni had been training him not to jump on her, but since the move, he had reverted to some of his old puppy ways. He was getting so big that when he jumped on her, he could easily knock her over. One Tuesday night, Ryodan picked her up from work at Dr. O'Malley's office. When she and Ryodan entered the house, Sampson jumped up on her; Leni lost her balance and would have fallen if Ryodan had not caught her. He moved faster than Leni's eyes could see.

After setting Leni to rights, he growled at Sampson and gave the dog a command that sounded like a low snarl deep in his throat. Sampson whined once, but sat down and waited. At the same time, Ryodan and Leni noticed the Aubusson rug in the parlor. The $50,000 oriental rug had been chewed; one corner was totally ruined. Ryodan checked the rug over carefully. Leni could tell he was really angry.

Ryodan and Sampson had a little "talk." Leni watched as Ryodan knelt down in front of the big golden haired puppy, held his muzzle in one hand and stared deep into the dog's eyes. Ryodan never said a word, but the dog whimpered several times as he stared back. Sampson lowered his head to the floor and hid his eyes with one big paw as if to indicate he was ashamed. It was clearly a submissive position. A moment later, he looked up at Ryodan and chuffed loudly. He wiggled and wagged his tail, barked happily and began to lick Ryodan's face with his long tongue. Ryodan grimaced at that.

"What was all that about?" Leni asked.

"Sampson and I had a little talk. I told him if he ever jumps on you again, or if he chews another thing in this house, I am going to cut his balls off. Then I told him, if he behaves himself, I will bring him home a nice female to mate with." Ryodan grinned broadly.

Leni gave a half laugh. She didn't know whether to believe him or not, but she said,"You did what? He's too young for that. I was planning on getting him fixed anyway."

Ryodan looked horrified. "No male of any species in this household is ever going to be "fixed," unless I do the "fixing." And trust me; he's not too young. An older female dog would be good for him. She will settle him down."

The next day, Ryodan brought home a year old golden lab bitch named Jezebel. Leni immediately fell in love with the older, quieter female, and they easily became friends. Despite her name, Jezebel was eager to please. Sampson was beside himself with joy; he loved having a new playmate and tried to impress her with his antics. Jezebel ignored him at first, but after a few minutes exploring her new digss, she started to play with him. She was much bigger than him, but he more than made up for that in enthusiasm.

Delilah promptly set about demonstrating just who was the queen bee in this house. The next morning when she came up to run, Mrs Tigh, Ryodan's housekeeper took Leni into the mudroom in back where the animals slept r on two beds pushed up together. The three animals were sleeping close with Delilah in the middle with her head against Sampson's front paws, and her tail over Jezebel's back. Sampson stated licking the back of Delilah's head, grooming her. The old cat got her point across.

As she got to know more about the man she loved, Leni was amazed to find out that Ryodan spoke and read more than a hundred modern languages. He had lived on every continent on this Earth, including Antarctica, and told her tales of his extraordinary travels. He knew languages that had not been spoken on this planet for thousands of years.

Over the last fifty years, Ryodan had amassed several college degrees, in law, physics, medicine, biochemistry, genetics, languages, computer sciences and many other fields. He was an ancient and magical being, more powerful in his own right than anything she could imagine, but he had an insatiably curious mind. He devoured knowledge of any type, especially anything to do with modern sciences or medicine.

He was particularly interested in astronomy. He had visited or lived on other worlds, met other beings, knew many different alien languages and cultures. He regaled her with stories about them. He was positive that humans would live among the stars one day; he believed it was inevitable.

He admitted that he admired humans for their scientific and technological advances. It had always amazed him that a race of beings, that he considered to be inferior to the Draghar or the Fae in intelligence, could come up with these discoveries and inventions on their own. Both Fae and Draghar could manipulate the laws of physics. They had no need to study, but humans had to do learn things on their own.

All was not harmony between Leni and Ryodan. They argued often; the argument usually ended up in the bedroom with uninhibited make-up sex. Ryodan said makeup was the best kind, but Leni said their sex period was always the best kind. The biggest source of their problems was the fact that she found him overprotective and overbearing, and he found her disturbingly willful and stubborn. Leni did not like to be controlled, and they got into raging arguments about that.

He assigned a Druid employee to be her bodyguard. The huge male named Llewellen had to be within twenty feet of her at all times. He chauffeured her everywhere, even to work. From the rune tattoos on his huge muscled arms and his aura, Leni knew immediately the man was a Druid and a master of magic skills. He was a nice guy, but still Leni didn't want to be chauffeured or guarded or followed all the time by anybody. She told Ryodan it was too confining, but he insisted he was only trying to keep her safe.

"Your such an arrogant asshole," she told him.

"Yes, but I am your arrogant asshole," he replied as he nibbled her ear. Leni knew she could not change his mind. It was the way he was, and he was right. Tegan recently assigned a bodyguard to Bridget as did Tegner to Monika. There were too many dangers out there for them, including the Fae.

"I'm surprised that you didn't assign one of the Draghar warriors to guard me. You seem to employ so many of them at your nightclub," she said as she argued with him.

Ryodan reacted strongly, "I don't want any other Draghar male around you alone, unless he has a pregnant mate."

"Why? Do you think it is possible that one of them still might try to kill me?" she asked.

"Because any Draghar who does not have a pregnant mate cannot be trusted. We have taken too much from each other. Even if we have not had a woman killed by the others, we have denied each other what every human male on this planet takes for granted, a mate to share his hearth. Our need for revenge is inbred in our species, and some of us are so violent, they may be willing to risk an eternal war by killing you, Bridget or Monika. Any Draghar who does have a pregnant mate understands that he has too much to lose if anything ever happens to you." Ryodan snarled as he spoke. His face was savage. His eyes glowed red and fangs erupted from his mouth.

The implication of that statement chilled Leni. She said, "I think Tegan is right. If Draghar males do not allow themselves to love, I think you will all eventually go irretrievably and eternally insane. You will become worse than that Unseelie monster who tried to attack Bridget and me. However, I think it is not enough just to love a woman. I think you must have children of your own to ground you in this world, to make you feel truly apart of it. Having families again will change you for the better and bring you some happiness. I am not saying you are going to be the good guys or superheroes, but you may find a measure of peace."

Ryodan thought about that for a minute, and then he nodded.

Leni continued. "I wonder why it has taken so long for three of you to impregnate your women at the same time. I wonder why Tegan was the only one to get several woman pregnant in the last two thousand years. Is it truly possible that there was no sidhe seers available all that time? That seems unlikely to me. You have said that only sidhe seers can bear your children, but can it be just any sidhe seer, or only certain ones?"

"What is so different about us, other than the fact that we can see through Fae glamour. For that matter, why can we even see the Fae when other humans can't unless the Fae allows it? We are human, but is it possible that all sidhe seers have Fae blood in them? I am beginning to think that we are all part Fae, and maybe that is why we recognize them through the glamour. Besides, we all seem to have at least one gift that is definitely Fae like in nature. Gran said that even our second sight was not like the telepathic gifts that other humans had. She never explained what she meant, but she said our gift was definitely magic in origin." Leni mused.

"I have often wondered about that myself. That night in the pub, Danal said that all three of his grandchildren have Fae magic. Do you have any other power besides second sight, Leni?" Ryodan asked.

"Well I definitely have some empathic abilities, and that helped a lot in my nursing profession because I could put my hands on someone and tell just by touch what was wrong with them. I have some healing abilities too. I can sometimes heal a simple illness or an injury just by touching someone. I feel the illness or the injury, as if I am feeling it in my own body. My hands get very warm as if energy is flowing from me to my patient, and the energy heals them. When I worked in the E.R, I rarely lost a patient. In fact, I had a reputation, and all the doctors wanted to work with me. I only do small stuff though, I can't cure cancer, but I can cure a common cold, minor aches and pain and small injuries." Leni was proud of that.

"I get tired and weak after I do an empathic healing. The bigger the injury or the disease is, the more rest I need. I have tried on bigger injuries and almost got caught a couple of times. I am telekinetic, too. Sometimes I can move things with my mind, including myself, and I can also make myself seem to disappear. However, I don't seem to have any control over where or when these gifts will work. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't. I haven't tried move anything in a long time, and I haven't to make myself disappear since I was a girl."

"Explain." Ryodan demanded.

"A couple of times, I have moved myself from one side of the room to another merely by thinking about it. I have made myself invisible to others. When I was a little girl, whenever I played hide and seek with Bridget and Sean or the other kids in our neighborhood, I liked to be "It." I liked to be the one that the other kids had to find because they could never find me. Sometimes I was right in front of their faces, and they still never saw me."

"When I lived with Gran, the other kids and I pestered the shopkeepers and our neighbors. One Halloween, I and some other kids soaped one of our neighbor's windows and TPed his house. All the other kids were caught, but Old Man Nelson never even saw me, and I was standing right in front of him. I just thought "I am invisible," and I was," she giggled out loud at the memory. "I haven't done anything like that, since I was twelve years old."

"You know now that I think of it, it is kind of like Fae glamour." Leni said. "I never thought about it before." Leni said.

"Why didn't you move or disappear that night in the pub when you saw that Unseelie monster? When he started for you and Bridget, why didn't you just get out of its way?" Ryodan asked curiously.

"I never saw anything like that in my life before. I was so terrified, I couldn't think straight. I knew it was going to kill us, and I couldn't move. If it wasn't for my Grandfather and his Fae cuff, it would have." Leni answered.

Ryodan's heart clenched at the memory. "Does anyone else know that you can do these things?"

"My Gran knew, but she told me never to tell or do anything like that in front of others, not even Bridget or Sean, and I didn't. She was surprised at the telekinesis and the disappearing trick, but she had second sight and unusual healing abilities too. After I met my grandfather, Gran said that she thought I had these other powers because my Fae blood was so strong, but no one else in the family demonstrated any unusual gifts, including my mother or my aunt. They were half fae, so I didn't really believe her."

"For a time, I had this crazy idea that Gran and I were white witches and tried to read about them. I tried to control and increase my gifts, so I could use them at will, but I never did learn to control them. Gran always threw my books on magic out. She said it was tempting fate to have these books in the house. She believed all witch magic was dark magic, and she was afraid of it. She tried to train me to control my gifts the way she was trained at the abbey, but after a while, I got so frustrated that I stopped. I foolishly told her I didn't want these gifts; I just wanted to be normal like every other girl I knew."

"Gran told me there was a place in my mind where these sidhe seer gifts seem to come from, and I have felt it since seeing that monster; I never really felt it before. It seems to be getting stronger. I think I may develop other gifts because not all of them came at the same time. What do you think?" Leni queried.

"I don't know. It is possible. Your grandmother was a smart woman: witch magic is usually dark magic. Not all witches practice black magic, of course, but most of them would sell their souls for a drop of more power, and eventually it consumes them. Now Druid magic is quite something else. Druids are born with their magic. It is in their DNA, but even that kind magic has a cost. Every time any magic is used, there is a price to be paid. Some witches are naturally born with magic, but most witches are humans who have studied the black arts."

He changed the subject. "What about Bridget or Sean, what kind of powers do they have?" Ryodan asked.

"Bridget has developed second sight since that night. She has also developed an ability to locate anyone merely by thinking about them; she has found several lost items that way too. I don't know if she has developed any other gifts. Tegan is working with Sean, and I know he has a lot of Fae magic, but I don't know exactly what his gifts are. I suspect he is very powerful though. He doesn't talk about it."

Ryodan nodded. Tegan had told him about Sean. The boy was powerful in his own right. He wasn't too surprised to hear what Leni told him. He had recognized there was something very different about her from the beginning.

"Leni, I believe that you have a lot more Fae magic in you than you know. I think that you only need to be trained to control your gifts. I will train you after Ian is born. It could be too dangerous now, and I don't want to risk either you or Ian. I think I am beginning to understand what Danal meant when he said that the three of you would stand beside us and help us in the upcoming Fae war," he told her. Ryodan surprised himself. At some point, he had made the decision to fight for this world. He did not know when that had happened.

"Really? Wow! I would like that. Are you going to train me to fight? Wait until I tell Bridget."

"No, Muirnin. You are a healer; you are not a warrior, and never will be. I will train you how to defend yourself as a Draghar mate, but I will do the fighting for us both, as Tegan will do for Bridget. Sean will fight by our side, but you both have other magic that can be just as useful. I will talk to Tegan tomorrow about this. Tegan will train Bridget to her full potential too."

Ryodan and Leni went to Marty's on the weekends. Leni and Bridget sang with the band on Friday and Saturday nights. Most nights, Mrs. Tigh had dinner prepared for Ryodan and Leni, but he often took her out to eat. He never took her to Chesters, but then she did not want to go there. She didn't like the place much and getting down those two ladders while pregnant was something she did not want to contemplate.

Every night after Leni finally fell asleep, Ryodan left to go to Chesters. She was often ready to go to bed by nine o'clock, not because she was tired, but because the next few hours were spent making love with Ryodan. He was insatiable and so was she. They often made love when he returned home in the morning too.

Their sex was incredible; it got better and better each time they were together. When they made love, they were in each others mind, experiencing what the other felt and thought. It was something that could not be put into words. Each time they coupled, they became more and more a part of each other in both body and mind. Together, they began to understand the full meaning of the words "soul mate."

With Leni, Ryodan suffered a total loss of control of his emotions. He was totally overwhelmed by the intensity of the love he had for her. It shook him to his very soul. It also frightened him, but he welcomed it. He had never experienced such a total connection with a woman. He wondered how he had ever lived without her, and he wondered what he would do when she eventually died. It would be so much worse than Zayida. He wondered if he would just stop talking like Kasteo, or if he would go totally insane. He wondered if the Draghar would have to find a way to put him down.

Leni was also overwhelmed by their connection, but she had her grandmother's experience to draw on. It soon seemed to be the most natural thing in the world. She reveled in it. She liked the way they grew closer every day. She could not imagine a life without Ryodan now, yet she did not worry about death. She knew from her grandmother and grandfather, and Bridget and Tegan, as soul mates, they would always find each other again. She told him that time after time; still she knew he didn't quite believe it.

Two weeks after Leni's return to Dublin, Leni and Ryodan exchanged the Druid wedding vows in their bedchamber. They had just finished making love. He was holding her on his lap; both of their bodies were still hot, sweaty and trembling from the force of their orgasms. He was still deep inside her touching up against her womb. A sudden rush of emotion made him hug her tightly against his ches. He must have squashed Ian,because his son gave him a mighty kick. Ryodan eased up a little, but emotion he felt did not fade.

As he looked into Leni's eyes, Ryodan knew he did not want to ever lose her. He didn't want another soul mate; he wanted only Leni. It was killing him to think that he would only have fifty or sixty years with her. For the first time, he understood how the Unseelie King felt when he wanted the Seelie Queen to make his concubine immortal.

Leni was in his mind so deeply at that moment that she understood what he was thinking. "I am mortal, Ryodan. We are what we are. Let us enjoy the time we have together. We will make our lives together good, and we will meet again later. We will love each other again; I promise you."

Their human wedding was not for several more weeks, but Ryodan did not want to wait to exchange the Druid binding vows. As he held her naked body in his arms, they spoke the words together in both English and Gaelic. Ryodan taught her each syllable with care; she was an excellent student.

"_If aught must be lost, 'till be my honor for yours,_

_If one must be forsaken, 'till be my soul for yours._

_Should death come anon, 'twill be my life for yours._

_I am Given." _

The air in the room changed; it resonated with a powerful magic sound. They both saw and felt a strange current as it flowed between them and coiled around them, cocooning them in light. The light was warm and wonderful; it felt like love. The light was so bright, it was as if the sun had entered the underground chamber and chased all the shadows away.

Leni and Ryodan had no thought of the room or the light; all they saw was each other. This world ceased to exist; they were floating together somewhere out of time, out of place, and out of body. Wherever they were, it was not Earth. For a time, they existed as beings of pure energy in a different dimension. For long minutes, they held each other close as the stuff of what they were flowed back and forth into each other, blending and becoming part of one another. They were aware of the process happening; they felt it in all of their senses: human, Fae and Draghar. The sensation was heady and intoxicating; they became drunk on it.

Finally, they separated into two separate physical beings; they were back in their bedroom. It did not matter that they were separate now; they had changed. They would be eternally part of each other. They would be eternally bound together. For Ryodan, it wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do.

The intensity of that experience touched off an uncontrollable lust for each other. He took her with a ferocity that shook them both. She answered his need with a ferocity of her own.

Afterward, Leni lay replete by his side; she was quietly tracing the tattoos on his chest. As always, his tattoos responded to her, rippling and pulsing under her fingers. Ian was awake and purring contentedly inside. Ryodan was pensive as Leni traced his face and then began to play, outlining the muscles of his chest and abdomen with with fingers that were so gentle, it made his heart catch in his throat. He would never get enough of her touch.

Not for the first time, he wondered how she could accept him and the terrible things he had done in the past. She was a modern woman with modern sensibilities. He expected her to be horrified by what he told her; any human woman would be, but she was not.

His thoughts filled his mind, and Leni said simply, "I love you, Ryodan. I will always love you. I don't make excuses for you, but I don't judge you either. I accept you totally; that includes anything and everything. How can I condemn you? You are part of me now; it would be like condemning myself."

Leni knew that after the binding vows, they were connected even more than they were before. They were connected by love and by a magical bond that would last for eternity. Even before tonight, when they were apart, Leni felt as if she was missing a part of her body. She did not feel complete, unless they were together. The intensity of her feelings for Ryodan used frighten her when she first met him. She did not understand the depth of her feelings for this man even now. She knew she probably never would, but she did not care.

Two days later, Leni and Bridget walked out of an expensive children's boutique. They had been shopping for baby clothes and a second baby crib for Leni. She had the antique baby crib, she had found and an auction in Atlantic City and repainted, shipped to her in Dublin after she moved. That crib would be used at night. It was placed in a small nursery they had prepared in a small bedroom that interconnected with their underground bedchamber The second crib would be placed in a nursery on the second floor of the mansion and would be used during the day.

Two Druid body guards followed behind the girls as instructed. As they walked across the street to Tegan's limo, a dark sedan pulled in between them and their Druid body guards. A second car, a white Volvo, barreled toward them, swerved and sped away.

Fortunately, Leni's Fae cuff automatically threw up an invisible barrier before the car could hit them. The left front fender of the car crashed into the barrier and was torn off before the vehicle bounced wildly, hitting other cars in its path. It careened and smashed the passenger door of another auto and broke off the side view mirrors of two others. The driver of the Volvo did not stop. He sped away with tires squealing; the dark sedan sped away also.

IIn spite of the barrier, both women reacted instinctively at the sight of the oncoming car and tried to jump out of its way. Bridget fell heavily against one of the damaged cars. She dislocated her shoulder and received a deep gash on one arm. She had cuts and contusions on her face, knees, legs and hands where her skin scraped against the car and the street. Leni fared a little better, but she still had many cuts and contusions; her ankle was sprained. Their injuries were not too serious, but they were both in a lot of pain.

Both guards immediately paged their employers with a special code locked into their cellphones. Before the two women could move, their grandfather, Danal, appeared. He erected another invisible barrier between them and their bodyguards, but the Druids did not seem to be aware of it. They kept up a constant conversation, keeping Ryodan and Tegan apprised of what was happening.

Danal had toned his Fae glamour down. He was dressed in an expensive suit and looked like a wealthy middle aged man, but both girls recognized him immediately. He held his finger to his mouth signaling that the girls should not give him away. He he identified himself to the body guards as Dr. Daniel O'Gallagher, stating that he was just passing by. The guards were happy that a doctor was there to help their charges, so they let him work unhindered.

Danal moved in front of the girls and began to tend to them. Holding his hands in front of his body, he produced two large paper cups filled with a clear cool liquid out of nowhere and gave them to the girls to drink. The Druid bodyguards could not see what he was doing, so they could not object. The girls accepted the liquid and began to drink. The liquid burned a little as it went down, but it tasted good. It made them feel a little light headed and warm.

"What is it?" Leni asked.

"A secret remedy made just for my two beautiful granddaughters. It will heal you and take away your pain," he smiled and answered back.

He began to run his hands up and down their faces, arms and legs. He made a show of cleaning and looking at their injuries, but while he was doing that he was actually healing them as he moved his hands. Bridget's shoulder no longer hurt, neither did Leni's ankle. The bruises, cuts and contusions began to disappear too. Their pain was fading fast, and their injuries were clearly healing. Neither girl questioned their grandfather further. They drained the rest of the liquid, glad for the relief it provided.

The two Draghar males were sparring in their gym when the telephone calls came. Within minutes they were at the site of the accident. By that time, the women were sitting inside the limo to stay warm. Both Leni and Bridget looked okay, but Ryodan and Tegan could see the invisible Fae barrier erected around them. Ryodan hissed when he recognized Danal; he started for the fairy.

"What are you doing here, Danal?" he shouted. Danal didn't move; he gave Ryodan a scornful sneer.

Tegan pulled him back. "What are you doing, Ry? Can't you see that he has been helping them? What is the matter with you? Danal wouldn't hurt his granddaughters; he loves them too much, you damn fool," he said angrily.

"What happened?" Ryodan shook Tegan off and demanded an answer from the body guards, but before he got an answer, Danal flicked his hand and both guards were struck mute. The crowd that gathered around moved away. At the same time, Danal lifted his barrier, and both Draghar males rushed to embrace their mates.

Danal was suddenly sitting inside the limo too. He said, "I think someone may have tried to kill them, but they are both fine now. I healed their injuries, and they are all right," he said as both men examined their women. "You can take them home now."

'How do you happen to be here?" Tegan asked Danal quietly.

"I was hunting for Unseelie to kill when I felt Leni's cuff create a protection spell. I sifted here just in time to see a white Volvo and a dark sedan speeding away and my granddaughters on the ground. The driver of the Volvo was looking back."

Danal created an image of the driver's face in the air for the Draghar warriors to see. Ryodan was shocked; it looked like one of Rocky O'Bannion's boys. Tegan growled when he saw image; he recognized the mug too.

"One of the bystanders said the the sedan cut the girls off and the white Volvo headed straight for them as if it intended to hit them." He gave them the license plates number of both vehicles. Danal had been calm before, but suddenly, he was very angry.

"I trusted you both to protect my granddaughters. Did I make a mistake?" he snarled. His anger grew. The air suddenly got colder. Icicles dripped from the buildings and ice frosted the street,it frosted inside the limo too.

Tegan and Ryodan hissed at that. Ryodan lunged for him, but Danal quickly sifted away. By the time Ryodan got to where Danal had been sitting, the Fae prince was standing outside of the automobile. He shoved the car door shut with a wave of his hand and locked it. Just as suddenly, he was inside the limo once more, but surrounded by a protection shield again.

"Do you wish to do battle with me in front of Leni, Ryodan? I will defend myself if I have to. I have no wish to fight with you, but I will. I prefer to talk to you, instead." The old Fae prince sat back on the seat opposite the two couples and dared Ryodan to make a move.

Danal sounded perfectly reasonable, but Ryodan was angry and frustrated that Leni had been hurt and he was not there to protect her. He wanted to argue, but Leni placed her hand on his arm. Ryodan looked down at her, he could see the tears and the plea in her violet eyes. With his peripheral vision, he could see Bridget's eyes pleading with Tegan too.

"Do you want me to talk to him, Muirnin?" he asked. Leni nodded, and the anger inside abated.

Ryodan knew he hated Danal simply because he was Fae. He knew that if he insisted, Leni would always choose him over Danal and never see her Fae grandfather again, but he also knew how much that choice would hurt her. Leni loved Danal, and she always would. Ryodan came to a decision. For Leni's sake, he would never fight with his soon to be Grandfather in law. All the same, he was never going to like Danal; he just knew that would be impossible..

"Okay, fairy. Let's talk," Ryodan said. Danal, Leni and Bridget all gave a visible sigh of relief.

"Not here. Not tonight. I have something I must do first. Tell me when and where you want to meet, but it has to be somewhere considered neutral ground. What I have to say is important. It affects all of the Draghar, but I will speak only to you, Tegan and your leader, Zigor, if he chooses to attend."

"Because of the war to come with the dark Fae, I would like to end this war between the Draghar and my own Fae house. Of course, I would wish to extend that to certain other Fae, but I accept that is not likely to happen. What I have to offer to the Draghar should be more than an incentive to stop the fighting between us. Do I have your word that none of you will try to harm me?"

Ryodan was wary. He did not trust Danal, but he was interested in hearing what the old fairy had to say. He looked at Tegan; the bigger warrior nodded his head.

"Tomorrow night at Marty's Pub. Ten o'clock. Do not be late. Make sure you are not wasting our time, fairy, or else I will not be held responsible for what happens." Ryodan snarled.

"Tomorrow night then," Danal nodded and sifted away.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was after dusk when Danal disappeared. The two Druid bodyguards got in the front seat and began to drive to Tegan's estate as directed. Leni looked out of the car window as they rode through the crisp autumn night. The old fashioned street lamps bathed the cobblestone streets in the hazy golden aura that was uniquely Dublin. Lights glowing from the windows of the many buildings they passed were warm and inviting. The night was cold, but the world outside the limo seemed so normal and beautiful. Leni relaxed and took in a deep breath. Dublin was a magnificent city. She loved being here.

In the distance, they could see several neighborhoods that were completely dark. No lights of any kind shown in those areas; they seemed barren and apocalyptic somehow, and they made her spine tingle with the creeps. Many of the dark areas had some sort of natural barrier from the rest of the city on one or more sides such as a bridge, a hill, or a river. Those areas that did not were simply black holes surrounded by light.

Leni turned to Bridget and pointed. Bridget nodded her head and shivered. Their sidhe seer senses were screaming in alarm. They could feel the presence of many different kinds of Unseelie monsters. That knowledge terrified them both.

Leni was glad when they left the city limits behind There were no dark areas out in the countryside. Apparently, the dark Fae were attracted by the throngs of people in the large city. By the time that they entered Tegan's mansion, both girls gave a sigh of relief. The cousins went upstairs, but two men went into the family room to wait as a small meal was being prepared for them. The family room was once was a first floor former drawing room used to entertain guests. Tegan had installed all the modern entertainment systems. He and Bridget spent a lot of time in this room. It was one of their favorite rooms.

Tegan's home was an elegant Edwardian style two story, nine bedroom affair with extensive attics and cellars. It was built in the early 1900's, but within fifty years, two additional wings had been added on either side of the main home. Tegan had purchased the house twenty years ago. It had been abandoned for years and was quite run down; he began renovations immediately. Today his home could have easily graced the pages of House and Garden.

Once cold, damp and drafty, the whole house now was warm and dry. The old bricks had been re-pointed; the roof had been repaired, and the house redone inside and out. The home now boasted complete re-wiring, a modern central heating and air-conditioning system. The wood floors, woodwork and wainscoting were carefully restored to their original beauty. All the walls were painted in lovely neutral colors. Paintings and sculptures lined the walls and rooms.

The spacious guest bedrooms on the second floor and in the servants wing had been remodeled to include their own separate bathrooms. Words like opulent, luxurious, sumptuous, elegant barely did justice to the mansion. Tegan had an interest in architecture and art; he loved making his home what it is today.

Bridget made use of the large master bedroom suite upstairs to nap during the day. Since giving up modeling, she had taken up painting and sketching and used the sitting room with tall windows all along one wall as a studio. Like Leni, she had built a second nursery out of a small bedchamber that had a connecting door to the master bedroom. She and Leni retired to that room bedroom to rest while waiting for their meal to be prepared.

Neither Leni nor Bridget felt like eating, but both Ryodan and Tegan insisted. Right now all they wanted to do lie down and sleep for a while. Since returning home, neither of them felt that good. Their whole bodies started to burn as if they were one fire. They both assumed it was the affects of the accident they had earlier.

In the family room, Ryodan sat with Tegan. They were both nursing a drink and watching the flames in the ornate fireplace mansion. Using his laptop Ryodan had spent the better part of an hour trying to contact Barons with no success. Tegan had just finished transmitting the details of the driver of the Volvo and the license plate numbers to one of his operatives at his security company. They expected to know exactly who was driving both vehicles before the next night fell.

"What do you think this is all about, Te?" Ryodan finally asked the older Draghar as he sat with Tegan. Tegan knew he was referring to Danal not the accident that had almost killed Bridget and Leni.

"I don't know what Danal wants, Ry. We have to talk to Barrons, but I'm not even sure that he will meet agree to with Danal. You know he thinks the only good Fae is a dead Fae. Whatever it is though, it has to be important. I can't see Danal risking his life for something trivial." Tegan replied.

A few minutes later, all four were called into the dining room for dinner. A hasty but excellent meal had been prepared by Tegan's cook, but both Bridget and Leni only picked at their food. They were still sitting at the table when Ryodan asked, "Leni, would you mind staying here tonight with Bridget? Te and I think it's best for you two to be together tonight while we talk with Barrons to see if he will agree to meet with Danal. We also have to start looking into who nearly ran you down."

"By the way, Bridget, can you contact Sean and ask him to come home? It would be better if he was here with you tonight too." Tegan said as the men stood up getting ready to go. Tonight the boy was supposed to be with his college mates attending a bachelor party for one of the older guys. He had left a message that he would not be home until late, and that he would eat out.

Tegan did not know what was going on, and he felt a flash of unease and worry for Bridget's younger brother. He didn't want to alarm the girls, so he kept his counsel.. Both Bridget and Leni tried to contact Sean, but his cellphone was either turned off, or the battery was dead.

In the months that he had lived with them, Sean had definitely grown on the Draghar warrior. A strong bond had developed between them, and it was getting stronger everyday. He spent a lot of time with Sean, training him in both magic and martial arts. He taught him how to use both ancient and modern weaponry. Sean was an excellent student; he was learning fast as was already a force to be reckoned with.

Tegan began to think of Sean as a son. It surprised him to find out that he actually loved the young male. He had never felt that way about a part human male before; his own half human children never survived childbirth. He knew behind that handsome, intelligent face and charming smile, Sean was a good man. He had a fierce courageous soul, and he would readily give his life to protect the ones he loved. Tegan sensed that Sean felt the same way about him, but of course, the two men would never acknowledge such a thing.

A few minutes later, Ryodan and Tegan were in one of Tegan's sports cars on the way to Chesters. Ryodan finally managed to contact Jericho Barrons who agreed to meet them at the nightclub when Ryodan would not discuss the matter on the phone. In the car, Ryodan wondered out loud once more if they should meet with Danal on the next night.

"I don't know, but I think we should hear him out. I just don't know if Zigor will attend. He hates all Fae so much, he will think it is a trick." Tegan responded.

"You don't, do you, Te?"

"No. If it were any other Fae besides Danal, I would agree with Zigor, but Danal loves his human family too much. I sense no deception in him." Tegan replied.

"It is curious, but neither do I." Ryodan stated.

An hour later, Leni and Bridget were freshly showered; they had changed into pajamas land ay talking on the bed in the upstairs master bedroom. Neither of the girls had any residual pain from the accident, but they both still felt that strange burning sensation inside their bodies, but it was not as bad as before. Both women took a dose of Peptol Bismol for relief, and for a time it helped. Cuddling together under comfortable blankets like they did as teenagers, the two cousins fall asleep in the same bed. Neither wanted to be alone tonight.

Whether as a result of the accident, or the burning sensation in their bodies, their sleep was restless. Bridget kept dreaming of the darkened neighborhoods in the city. These dark places were barren of all life, and they kept growing until Dublin was an apocalyptic wasteland. She dreamed of monsters like the one that attached her and Leni in her uncle's pub. The Unseelie monsters were constantly feeding on men and women all over the city, until the city was completely uninhabited. Soon all of Ireland was the same way. All of her human family was dead or dying. She had no idea where Tegan was; Bridget felt alone and lost.

Leni had weirder, more terrifying dreams. In the first dream, she and Bridget were lying on two hospital beds on the floor of an old church. An invisible shield surrounded them. Both were in the last stages of a very long, hard labor.

Danal and Sean were inside the invisible shield with them; they were doctors helping to deliver their children. Both women were on beds with their feet in stirrups. Sean sat in between Leni's legs, and Danal sat between Bridget's. Each man wore shiny, iridescent lab coats that gave off distorted reflections like mirrors in a fun house. Overhead strobe lights flashed psychedelic rainbow colors; the rapidly changing colors made her feel dizzy. Leni could see the crowning head of her son reflected in Sean's mirrored lab coat. Bridget could see her son's head in Danal's too.

Ryodan and Tegan sat behind their wives, coaching them, holding their hands and invoking magic spells in their ancient language. Leni could feel fear and worry rolling off both males. Labor had been hard and long for both women, but she and Bridget were through the worst of it. Their sons were anxious to be born; it would be only a matter of mere moments now.

Leni knew she was dreaming because the dream made no sense. There was no way that she and her cousin could be in labor at the same time; Bridget was almost two months farther along in her pregnancy. Still, in the dream, both were full term and ready to pop. Danal, Sean, Ryodan and Tegan were breezily making bets on who would deliver first. They sounded so cheerful and elated, Leni and Bridget were ready to strangle them.

Leni could understand why Danal was there; he had been present at the birth of some of his own human children and grandchildren. Sean,however, was a different matter, since he has never shown any inclination to become a doctor. She asked, "What are you doing here, Beanpole?" Sean did not answer; he only smiled, but he looked so wise that she was happy to see him.

Danal, Sean, Ryodan and Tegan started to chant in unison in silly, sing song voices. "One more push! One more push! One more push!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Leni and Bridget screamed at the same time. Leni added a few pointed obscenities while Bridget added other vivid curses They hadn't felt as much pain as they expected, but they were both exhausted, hot and sweaty from exertion. They were way too tired to push, but as the final contraction hit, they pushed anyway; they couldn't help themselves. Both babies easily slid out into the waiting hands of their great grandfather and their uncle.

Everyone held their breath as Danal and Sean slapped the babies on the back, and the two little boys began to wail loudly. They were both big babies. Each was the very image of his father with black hair and obsidian eyes. Their little red faces scrunched up into grimaces as they sang their hellos this world.

Danal and Sean snapped their fingers, and the both babies were cleaned, circumcised and laid naked upon their mother's breast. Danal and Sean stepped away, curtsied and then bowed to an audience in the room. Leni heard loud "Aahs," a lot of polite clapping and some feral roars and howls. She also heard quick intakes of breath and some hisses. It sounded like animals in an orchestra.

The mothers reached out and touched their children's faces with one gentle hand; they both smiled. The fathers reached down to touch their sons. Together, the two sets of parents counted little fingers and toes just like any other parents. Ryodan and Tegan's ancient eyes were filled with wonder, awe and so much joy that it made Leni want to laugh and cry at the same time. The cousins smiled again and handed their sons to their fathers.

Outside the perimeter of the invisible shield, the place was filled with seven men and a lot of women. On one side, the Draghar males stood cheering, roaring and stamping their feet. They had watched the two births intently from beginning to end. Their eyes indicated that they did not really believe what was happening, yet their eyes were also filled with longing and envy.

On another side, a large a group of women stood. In the middle of them was a tall, elegantly dressed, silver haired woman who wore a braid wrapped around the crown of her head. She was clearly their leader, and from the look on her face, she was not happy. Leni's intuition told her that these women were all sidhe seers. The women were all silent as they watched. Leni could see fear and horror on their faces. The leader cried, "These children are abominations! They must die!" Leni hated her instantly.

Between the Draghar and the sidhe seers was a small group of beautiful, sophisticated women. Leni recognized all the women; they used to date different Draghar warriors, but were cast aside at one time or another. Moira Harkness stood off to the side of these women. All of the women stared at Bridget and Leni with jealousy and hatred in their eyes, but Moira's eyes were so malignant and evil that they made Leni shiver.

Moira turned her head slightly to look at Ryodan, who was cradling Ian in his arms and singing softly to him. There was murder in her green eyes. Leni had no doubt that Ryodan's former mistress wanted his son dead as much as she wanted Leni dead. Moira was not the kind to share any man's affections; she wanted it all.

Leni's maternal instinct to protect her child burned hot and fierce inside her. She had never been a violent person, but in that moment, she wanted to utterly destroy Moira Harkness; she wanted to tear her from limb to limb. She wanted to see the red head's bloodied and broken body crushed beneath her feet.

Ryodan and Tegan walked with their sons in their arms to stand in front of the invisible barrier. Each man held up his naked son for all to see. The babies both wriggled and wailed some more. Their cries were long and lusty; the noise was music to Leni's ears. Her son and nephew were both beautiful and healthy baby boys. She wasn't a particularly religious person, but she thanked God for that.

"My son!" Ryodan and Tegan each roared as they presented their sons to the other Draghar. As one voice, the Draghar warriors roared with them and stamped their feet again. The pounding sound was like a herd of stampeding elephants, but the noise they made was the sound of hope. It was the sound of pure joy.

Seconds later, as they nursed their babies for the first time, Leni and Bridget were suddenly in Beaumont Hospital sharing the same large bed. Ryodan, Tegan and the others were no where around. Outside their hospital room, doctors, nurses and other people walked the halls going about their business. The light in the room changed as dark shadows filled the hallway. People started screaming as the shadows began to devour them, leaving only papery husks in their wake. Within seconds, the corridor was filled with silence. The only sound in the whole maternity ward was from screaming monitors that were no longer attached to living patients.

The shadows slithered into the room and stretched out tentacles of death toward Leni, Bridget and their sons. The blackness was almost on them, and Leni knew that they were all going to die. Darkness completely hid the door. The black shades started to curl up on the footboard at the foot of the large bed, slithering and reforming into horrible shapes as they did so. Leni and Bridget pulled their feet up away from the shades, but inexorably, the darkness came closer. Leni threw her arm out in front of her, but this time, the Fae cuff didn't work.

The shadows slowly inched closer, but they seemed to be consciously taking their time. Leni was aware of their rudimentary, but evil sentience. She knew that these things were playing with her and Bridget. They wanted them to be afraid. Leni had the feeling that the strong emotions like fear and horror fed these creatures as much as their bodies did. Bridget and Leni held their babies to their breast and clasped hands waiting for the inevitable. The shadow closest to them morphed into Moira Harkness' face. It gave an evil leer. Although it was silent, Leni knew it was laughing at her.

Just as suddenly, the shadows stopped and backed away. The Moira face tried again to reach out for her, but it stopped. It was afraid of something. The Moira shadow mouthed a silent cry of anguish as it moved back. Like snakes writhing away, the shadows pulled back to the door and into the corridor beyond. Their darkness exploded into nothingness as a brilliant light shown in the hallway.

Once again the scene shifted. Leni was standing in the ruins of the old church again. She was alone and no longer pregnant. Fear so strong that she could not breathe twisted her insides. She wanted to cry out, but only sibilant gasps came out of her mouth.

Suddenly, the dark haired woman from her vision was there, but she was not alone; there were four males with her. The woman and her companions ignored Leni. It was as if she were not there.

Leni was disgusted by the scene in front of her. The woman was nude and participating in an orgy with three naked males. She was on the ground and having sex with three men at the same time, while another man watched. The three who were having sex with her were inhumanly beautiful. Their skin, eyes, and hair glowed with iridescence, and they chimed rather than spoke. They were obviously Fae princes. The watcher was fully clothed, but he was beautiful enough to be Fae as well; yet he was not.

The woman had one man in front; one in back and one in her mouth. The atmosphere was redolent with the sounds and smell of sex. Leni could not see the woman's face clearly, but it looked like she enjoyed what was happening. She urged all three of them on, to push harder, deeper "More! More!" She kept begging in a raw raspy voice, as if she would die if they stopped. The woman was as actively engaged in the sex as the three men, touching, kissing, and biting them as they moved inside her. The scene went on for a long time. The men were insatiable in their lust, and so was the woman.

From her observation point, Leni thought that the woman was totally focused on one thing, receiving giving and sexual gratification as she orgasmed over and over. She sighed, moaned, groaned and cried out savagely in her primal lust; the Fae princes did the same in weird chiming voices. It was unnerving to watch and hear, but Leni could not turn away.

Like most women her age, Leni had watched a few porn movies with girlfriends and with Philip. He had liked them a lot, but she wondered what the big deal was. She was never turned on by porn; she she found most of it trite and ridiculous in the extreme. Porn movies seemed rather juvenile to her. Still, she did not judge people who watched them. She believed everyone had a right to determine what they liked for their own entertainment, as long as they did not hurt anyone else.

Although in most ways, the acts being performed by the woman and the three princes were quite typical of a standard porno flick, but intensity of their bottomless lust seemed to be different. It was mindless and without reason; it was beyond disgusting and puerile. The woman could not be satisfied, and neither could the Fae males. Even after multiple orgasms, they all were gaping holes of want that could never be filled.

Leni knew the woman would let herself be repeated sexed in every position and in every orifice until she was dead. She wouldn't stop for food, or water or rest. All she wanted to do was to fuck and be fucked, to suck and be sucked, until she she no longer moved, until she had no breath in her body. It made Len sick to her stomach.

The faces of three princes who were with the woman were hazy, indistinct, but their bodies were perfect, muscular and beautiful. They did not care anything about the woman; they were incapable of emotion. She was nothing more than a means to satisfy their own yawning emptiness. As Leni stared at them, she knew there was something wrong with these Fae princes. They too were mindless pits of want. These men were not like her grandfather at all; they were soulless Unseelie princes; Leni was sure of it.

The watcher was tall and beautiful with golden skin, copper eyes and silver moon hair. He had a scar of his face. He watched intensely, not like a voyeur, but like a man who would do anything to get what he wanted. He wanted this.

A fourth Fae prince joined the other three as they sexed the woman. Leni couldn't see his face either, but he had long, flowing black hair. Leni had the impression that he had large black wings, but they were indistinct and filmy. This prince seemed to know the woman. He held her tenderly as a lover would. He gave her a drink of water to sooth her parched and burned lips. He crooned soft soothing words to her, and he caressed her face.

Leni wondered why this fourth prince didn't stop the other three, but he didn't even try. He told her it would be over soon. He said he would take care of her, but he kept sexing her along with the others. Leni knew this prince cared for this woman in some strange and peculiar way and actually felt sympathy for what was happening to her. However, he participated in this unspeakable thing along with the other three. He wanted her, and he was taking advantage of the situation. It was the worst case of betrayal Leni had ever seen.

The woman turned and looked straight at Leni. She was almost bowled over by the despair, pain and torment in the woman's eyes. Leni could see now that she had no control of her actions. Her body and her mind were manipulated like a puppet on a string. What was being done to this woman was totally against her will. The woman was fully aware of what was happening to her; it was horrible, and she hated it.

Leni wondered could she have been so stupid as to think this woman willingly participated in the violation of her body and her mind by the Fae princes. No woman would want to endure this degradation. What was being done to her body was rape, pure and simple; what was being done to her mind was even worse.

Leni held the woman's green eyes hers for a long time trying to show her support and compassion. The woman somehow knew Leni was there with her; she was not alone. Leni wanted to take the woman in her arms and tell her to endure. She wanted to tell her that she would be all right in the end. The woman acknowledged Leni's presence with a blink of her eyes.

The four princes kept working on her, moving in and out of each orifice, filling and covering her with their foul essences. Leni watched as the woman began to lose her grip on sanity. Foul tasting bile rose in Leni's throat as she watched the four Fae princes turned the woman pri-yah. Hearing her grandmother describe this terrible thing could not compare to seeing it actually happen. It was horrific.

Leni screamed for Fae princes to stop, but they ignored her. She tried to push them off the woman. She beat at them with her fists to no avail. They could not hear or feel her. Her hands moved through their bodies, as if through air. She had no substance in this dream; no one but the woman even knew she was there, and now the woman no longer did.

Leni was crying as she jerked awake from the sound of her own screaming. Bridget was also screaming from her own nightmare. Before Leni could say anything, words rushed out of Bridget's mouth as she described her dreams. Leni shared her dreams with Leni as well. They were both shaken when they found out that they had been having the same nightmare about the same dark haired woman.

To make sure, Bridget got her sketch pad from her studio and drew the woman's face. Leni recognized it immediately. Neither woman overlooked the importance of their shared dream. It wasn't merely a dream; they both had a vision of the future. They wondered who the woman was.

At 9:45pm the next evening, Ryodan, Leni, Tegan, Bridget walked into Marty's and strode toward the back. At a large table sat, Jericho Zigor Barrons, Tegner and Molly Iversson, Angus, Lor and two women Leni did not know. The new women were stereotypical of the kind of female that attracted the Draghar. They were both beautiful, sophisticated and dressed in short, sexy dresses that showed their assets to their best advantage.

Kasteo and Megan McCormack were there too. He was sitting with his arm protectively thrown around her shoulder. It was the first time that Kasteo had brought his new woman to meet the other Draghar. He had her sit next to Monika Iversson, but he kept her apart from Lor and Angus' dates. He did not like those women at all. He though Megan was too good for the likes of them.

They were watching Lor who was struggling with another girl in his lap. She was trying desperately to get up, but her long hair was caught in the many zippers of his black leather jacket. Lor wasn't holding her down, but he wasn't helping her either. He had a big grin on his face and a strange, faintly shocked look on his face.

The girl was dressed in blue jeans and sneakers. She had on a blue T-shirt with the words, Justin's Girl, written across the chest. At least two inches of bare skin showed between the hem of the T-shirt and the top of her jeans. Her fingernails were each painted a different color with different designs on them. Her arms, fingers, neck and ears jangled with cheap gold jewelry. She had eyeliner and lipstick on, but nothing else. She was the exact opposite of the women with Lor and Angus. She had a fresh faced innocence about her.

Her derriere was moving back and forth on his lap and one hand was behind her on his torso as she struggled to get away from him. The other one was trying to dislodge a stand of hair from the sleeve his jacket. Her head was bent at an awkward cant. Lor was clearly enjoying the girl's frantic movements as she tried to get loose, but there was some undefinable emotion in his ancient black eyes. What was clear was that Lor was aroused as the girl moved against him. It did not take any imagination to see his erection straining hard against his pants.

"Ew! Stop that! Let me up, you disgusting old pig!" The girl cried out disgustedly. She felt him growing big underneath her rear as she struggled, but she could not position herself so that she was not touching him.

"Stop struggling so I can disentangle you, girl." Lor said, but he was laughing hard and made no move to help. Megan and Monika both got up to help the girl. Finally she was free. Lor stood up, leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was the girl didn't like it because she pushed him away. Lor lost his balance and landed hard in the seat of his chair; he started to laugh even harder.

"Ooh! When hell freezes over, you old goat. Why, you're old enough to be my father; shame on you!" The girl was incensed. She slapped his face and stalked away. She had a southern accent. Leni guessed she was from Texas like Megan.

Lor had seen the slap coming, but he did not even try to move out of the away. He had deliberately goaded her, and he was sure of what she was going to do. The slap stung a little, but the fleeting feel of her soft hand against his cheek was worth it. He kept on laughing.

The beautiful woman who was Lor's date had a deep scowl on her face. She arose and walked away in a huff. The Draghar men started to laugh. "Robbing the cradle now, Lor? She's a little young for you isn't she? What next, a toddler in diapers?" Angus laughed.

"Just having a little fun. God, did you see her face when she slapped me? I think I'm in love," Lor mocked. "She's probably too young to be in here anyway, bet she won't forget tonight. Serves her right, the little bitch."

They all sensed and smelled Lor's arousal, but they all picked up on his unusual interest in the girl; it was more than sexual. Like most Draghar males, Lor usually considered human women as tools to satisfy his carnal appetites and nothing more. By their standards, he was good to his women while they were with him, but he never let them stick around long enough to get attached. He paid them well for their services in jewelry and other presents, and forgot them, as soon as they were gone. Somehow this one was different, and they knew it.

Their Draghar hearing had also picked up what Lor said to her. "Want to fuck? I'll fuck you better than anyone has ever fucked you before." That was so typical of Lor; the warrior was crude to the marrow of his bones.

"What happened?" Ryodan asked as they all sat down with the others.

"A waitress carrying a loaded tray bumped into the girl and knocked her into Lor's lap. Did you see the way she pushed and slapped him? That girl has a pair of brass ones." Angus said admiringly.

The girl was just about to sit down with a group of people at a big booth against the back wall about twenty feet away when Marty McDonald walked up to her. "Serena dear, are you all right? He didn't hurt you did he?" Leni could hear the concern in her uncle's voice.

"No harm, no foul. I'm fine, Uncle Marty. That old guy is just a jerk, that's all." Serena said as she sat down facing Leni. The group at her table were college age kids that Sean knew. He got up, walked over and sat down with them.

"Will you stick around for a while, dear? There are some people here that I would like to introduce you later." Martin McDonald asked. Serena nodded, and Uncle Marty walked away.

Serena Mitchel was eighteen, and a student at Trinity College. She had known Martin McDonald all her life and called him uncle, although they were not related by blood. He was a friend of her late parents and frequently visited them in Abilene, Texas before they both died a year ago. She was seventeen at the time. Martin McDonald had been named as legal guardian in her parent's will. He brought her to Dublin and got her enrolled at Trinity College. She was studying music, art and history. He checked on her weekly to make sure she was doing all right. He had asked her to come to the pub tonight.

She was 5'3" with a frame was very similar to Leni's. She had a lithe, slender body with a full bust, nicely rounded butt and long, well shaped legs. She wore her silvery blonde hair pulled back into a high pony tail that made her look even younger than she was. Her facial features were exotic with slightly slanted eyes and full lips. She had the kind of complexion that tanned nicely, but didn't burn. Her lips were full and pink. Her ears were small and shell like; her nose was delicate.

Serena was beautiful, but her most arresting feature by far was her silver gray eyes. They were almond shaped with a fringe of long dark lashes. Her eyes were intelligent and exotic; they held you; you did not want to look away. She reminded Leni of an illustration she liked to look at in her third grade reader. Serena looked exactly like the fairy princess in that picture. In fact, Leni was sure Serena had even more Fae blood in her veins than she and her cousins.

Serena's eyes were calm now as she talked and laughed with her friends; whereas before, they were all blazing fire and fury. Her face showed steel and determination, yet there was an innocence about her that was appealing. Leni felt a kind of kinship with her. She seemed lonely in a way.

Leni had easily picked up on Lor's attraction to the girl. Serena kept peeking at him when she thought he wasn't looking. She was confused, but she was just as attracted to Lor as he was to her, even though she tried to deny it.

"Soul mates." The words popped in Leni's head. A sudden vision of Lor and Serena together as lovers surfaced in her mind. Lor was besotted with the young blonde, and she with him. They were meant to be; she knew that. She wondered if anyone else had picked up on it. Leni looked up and saw Tegan watching Lor with a knowing smile on his face. _He knows it too_, Leni thought.

_Lor, your goose is cooked._ Leni thought to herself. _Jokes on you, old man, and you don't even know it._ That thought delighted her. She had never liked the crude Draghar, but now she knew he had more than met his match. Leni laughed at that.

As he sat there enjoying a laugh with his friends, Lor was positively stunned by his reaction to this girl. His body was still excited; he missed the feel of her on his lap. When she touched him, he felt an electrical charge as strong as a lightening bolt. He wanted her instantly, but that made him curious. She was not his type at all; she too young and too innocent. He could smell that she had never been with a man. He didn't like young and innocent; he liked hot, sexy and experienced. _I was just having a little fun. I was just playing with her_, he kept telling himself.

A few minutes later, Tegner, Kasteo, Angus and Lor left the pub. Before they left, Lor had corralled the woman who was with him before. Apparently, she was no longer angry with them. He was glad of that; he was going to fuck her silly tonight.

Uncle Marty carried a tray of drinks to their table and told Barrons everything was ready. It was ten o'clock. Barrons, Ryodan and Tegan stood to go upstairs to a private room for their meeting. As he stood there, Leni asked Uncle Marty who the blonde girl was.

"She called you "Uncle." Is she your niece? Is she related to us? You seem to be related to half of Dublin." Bridget said. She had picked up on the girl's Fae blood too. Sean most likely had as well.

"No. She calls me that because I have known her since she was born. I knew her late parents very well. Her name is Serena Mitchell, and she is your cousin. Her father, Galen Mitchell, was Diana and Sarah's half brother.

A sudden breeze passed over them, and Danal appeared. "I was not aware that my son, Galen, had a daughter, Martin. There's no doubt that she is mine; I smell her blood. Besides, she looks just like him. Why have you never told me, old man?" Danal had been disguised and sitting in the far corner. He had been watching and listening to everything.

He was standing next to Martin McDonald now. His copper eyes flashed with iridescence. He was angry, but there was joy in his eyes too. As usual, when Danal was around, an invisible shield separated them from the other people in the pub.

"How long have you known I had another granddaughter, Martin McDonald. Why didn't you tell me that Galen had a daughter?" Danal repeated. "You owe your life to me, Druid. Have you forgotten that? You should have told me about her; you owe me that."

"I owe you my life, Danal, but I owed your son, Galen, even more; I owed him my son's life. Patrick would have died years ago, if not for him. He did not want to to deny you knowledge of his wife and your grandchild, but like you, because of V-Lane, Galen believed it was best that no Fae ever found out about Cynthia and Serena"

"You made me pledge to keep your secret, Danal, and I did. I never told anyone about Catriona, Sarah, Diana or their children, not even Galen. I never told anyone about Cynthia or Serena. Galen and Cynthia are both gone now. It's time for Serena to meet her family. She needs more protection than a simple Druid can give her."

"You are no simple Druid, Martin. You no longer serve the Fae, but you are my friend. I want to meet with Serena. Tonight, if possible." Danal said.

Leni was shocked; Danal had told her he had Fae family, but it never really sunk in. Bridget was shocked too; she spoke up. "What do you mean, Uncle Marty? You don't have a son named Patrick?"

"It is a long story, Bridget, but your father, Patrick, is my son. I am not your uncle. I am your grandfather."

"But you can't be. You are only a years older than my father."

"Martin is your grandfather, Bridget, not your uncle. He is more than one hundred years old. I saved his life when he was a young man. My magic causes him to age much more slowly than other humans. Because he looks so young, he thought he would have to leave this family as he had to once before. We discussed it and decided that it would be better if he was thought of as his children's oldest brother, not as their father. He will not have to leave his family,not for a long time, anyway. He is a Druid who served me as a friend well. He is good man, and a good friend. I made it so for him." Danal said.

Leni and Bridget were stunned by this knowledge, but apparently, it was not news to the Draghar warriors. They had all known Martin McDonald a long time. He was still a Druid, but he had not served the Tuatha De Danaan for more than fifty years. They did not know why. They trusted him, even though he was still Danal's friend.

"I will arrange the meeting, Danal. I planned to introduce her to Leni, Bridget and Sean tonight. I have asked her to stay a while. You can meet her then."

"Enough of the family reunion. You have something to say to me, fairy?" Barrons barked.

"Yes, but not here." Danal jerked his head and started walking toward the stairs. Ryodan took the tray of drinks, and the three Draghar males followed the Fae prince upstairs.

"What do you want, Danal? Speak up and don't waste my time." Barrons snarled as soon as the door was closed.

"I want to call a truce between the Draghar and my Fae house. Too many of my Fae family have been killed by V-Lane and his followers, and by the Draghar. My son Galen was killed by that monster not that long ago. I don't want anymore of my children or family to die. I want us to join forces against V-Lane who is looking for the Sinsar Dubh. We will help you search for it; if we find it, we will gladly inform you where it is. I also want you to assist us in our fight with the Unseelie in the war to come. I have something to offer to the Draghar that you will find hard to resist." Danal snarled back. The Fae prince did not like Barrons, and that fact was apparent.

"Why does V-Lane want the book?" Barrons asked.

"V-Lane says he wants it for the queen, but I know him. He thirsts for the queen's power, and he thinks the book will give it to him. He wants to become king. The queen is missing. No one knows where she is, or even if she is alive. There are many of us who believe that V-Lane will use the book to destroy this planet if he is not stopped."

"That's all very interesting, but why should we care? What could you possibly offer us that we would want?" Barrons sneered.

"The elixir of life. Before she became so besotted with V-Lane, Aiobheal gave me a small amount of her elixer it as payment for a very special favor; she has done that before on rare occasions with other Fae. I have enough to give one woman for each Draghar male a dose, if you agree to my terms. Your women will not be immortal, but they will be nearly so. They will live for many, many thousands of years. Think of what that will mean to you, Draghar. Your soul mates don't have to die for a very long time." Danal replied calmly as he looked at Ryodan and Tegan.

Tegan and Ryodan jumped up. They knew the importance of Danal's words; it was a unexpected dream come true, but Danal wasn't finished. "I have already given it to Leni, Bridget and Sean. I gave it to them last night, and I will give it to my new granddaughter too." There was a smug look on the old fairy's face.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"You gave them the elixir of life? Are you crazy? Leni and Bridget were sick all night and most of the day. They ran fevers off and on for hours. You could have killed them or the babies they carry." Ryodan shouted at Danal as the elation he first felt quickly evaporated. He and Tegan had spent hours trying to find out who drove the cars that nearly killed the girls, but so far they had no luck. When they returned to Tegan's mansion, the girls were sick with fevers for hours. They called Dr. O'Malley who could find nothing wrong with them. The old druid doctor stayed until the fevers broke, and the girls were resting comfortably. Tonight, it was as if they had never been sick. They suffered no ill effects whatsover; all bruises and contusions from the ccident were were gone; they were both happy, healthy and feeling fine.

"Will they become totally Fae, old man?" Ryodan asked, afraid to hear the answer. He did not want Leni to become Fae.

"Their temporary illness was merely the elixir working. It acts like a virus on the human body. It changes it on a genetic level. They will both be fine, as will your sons. The elixir gives them longer life; that is all. Only the queen can turn a human into a Fae. They both are fine now, as I saw with my own eyes downstairs." Danal explained. He did not like being questioned in such a manner, but he held his tongue.

Ryodan wasn't convinced, but Barrons spoke up. "I believe he is telling the truth, The Rhymer was sick for about three days, but he has never had an ill day in more than four thousand years after than. He has not turned Fae." The Rhymer was a human who was given the elixir of life. He had not aged in all that time. No one knew how long it would last.

"Why, Danal? Why did you do this thing?" Tegan asked, but his voice was not angry. Ryodan noted that the warrior did not seem upset at all. In fact he seemed delighted.

"I believe that someone is trying to kill my granddaughter, Leni. This is the second attempt now, and this time, Bridget was involved too. If you two cannot protect my granddaughters, I must." Danal said simply. Both Tegan and Ryodan snarled in anger at the suggestion that they could not protect their mates. Danal snarled back; he was just as angry as they were.

"Why are you offering us the elixir of life for other women? Why should we trust you, fairy?" Barrons growled at him. He did not trust fairies, and he never would.

"There are many reasons, Zigor. Not the least of which, my Fae family has been decimated by both the Draghar and V-Lane and his minions. V-Lane knows that we will never bow to him. The Draghar, well... I believe that you know my family had nothing to do with the death of your wives and families, but you killed them anyway."

"Although V-Lane has killed thousands, your men have also killed many of my Fae famiy. That is why I was not haooy to know that my grandaughtersi are soul mates to two oif your own." Danal said as he looked at Barrons, then Tegan and Ryodan. There was pain and grief in the old fairy's eyes; he shimmered iridescently as he fought to control his emotions.

"Still, I am willing to set my feelings aside, to forgive you. I feel that I must for the safety and well being of all my family, both human and Fae."

"You still not have explained why, fairly. Speak now, or this discussion is over." Barrons growled.

Danal looked at Tegan and Ryodan. He started speaking. "I was with my Catriona the night she died. As a sidhe seer trained at the monastery, she knew about the Draghar and the enmity they have for the Fae. She told me that for the last year of her life, she had been having visions of the future. She believed that an event occurred in Dublin around the time Bridget and Leni were born that shifted the paradigm of this world."

"Catriona believed this world may be headed for the "End Times." Although she does not believe it is either Leni or Bridget, Cat believed that the woman who was named by ancient prophesies; the one who would either save this world, or destroy it, was born. Cat believed that this woman is of my bloodline; that she is a direct descendant of one of my Fae sons. I did not believe her of course, because I thought the Unseelie King had killed off all of my human descendants, but Cat insisted it to be true. Catriona's visions have always come true, unless steps were taken to change things."

"Cat also believed that because of this woman's birth, the Fae's human progeny and the Draghar will eventually create a new race on this world. She believed that my Fae house and my Fae bloodline is irrevocably tied to the Draghar. I knew from the day that Bridget was born that she was your soul mate, Tegan, but Cat said Leni would one day belong to a Draghar. I refused to believe that and told her so. I did not want to believe her. Draghar have killed too many of my kind. She knew I hated you as much as you hated me. Cat said she understood that, but she said that see saw nine of my descendants with Draghar warriors as their soul mates, not just Bridget and Leni."

"I still refused to believe it, even when Leni chose Ryodan. I thought it mere coincidence, but a week ago, I saw two more of you with women who are of my bloodline. Their Fae blood is thin, and it must go back many generations, but still I recognized them as mine. Both women are both pregnant, although one by mere days. Tonight, I will meet another granddaughter. It seems she has been picked by one of you already, although neither know it yet." Danal grimaced a little as he said that.

Ryodan looked at Tegan as Danal talked. They both had picked up the fact that Megan McCormack was pregnant. There was no denying the smell of Kasteo's blood in her womb, but he wanted who the other Draghar warrior was. The older warrior nodded. He mouthed the name, Lor." Ryodan was stunned.

"Catriona believed that all the Draghar will eventually choose a female of my bloodline to mate with. I now believe she was right; I believe, for some reason unknown to me, my Fae bloodline is irrevocably tied to the Draghar. Clearly after thousands of years, Draghar warriors have sired children with females of my blood, and I find that fact quite amazing. Can you imagine of a race that is part Draghar, part Fae, and part human? They will be both magical and powerful. Eventually, they will become the dominant race on this planet. For that reason alone, you must stop the feud and fight for Earth in the war to come. My human family must prevail. They must be saved from the Unseelie abominations, and the Seelie Fae must be pushed back to Faery." Danal stated strongly.

"You lie, you fucking fairy. My mate was Ariel; I will bring her and our back. She did not carry your blood. I know that. I would have smelled it if she did." Barrens growled as he jumped for Danal; he was filled with fury and hate. Knives and weapons appeared out of nowhere as he rushed at Danal with Draghar speed. Danal's Fae ability to shift was faster than any Draghar movement could ever be.

He not only shifted away, but he seemed to appear in many places at the same time. It was like he had cloned himself over and over again. There was no way to know which image was real, and which was not. However, none of the images was particularly distressed as Barrons' weapons passed through them like solid through water.

"I have learned much since we last met, Draghar. You may still be more powerful than I, but you will not find it so easy to kill me. I have visited many worlds and learned magic that you cannot even imagine." Danal said with a scornful laugh.

He continued. "Ariel was not your soul mate; something inside you knows that, and yet you persist in your delusion. I understand that; you also wish to revive your half human son. However, listen to me, Draghar; have you ever asked yourself why she was taken by the Unseelie King, your Draghar king, in the first place? Surely, there were far more beautiful women on this planet."

"Our legends say that Ariel reminded him of another mortal that he loved once loved long ago. That mortal was his first concubine; the one he killed the first Fae queen for. I have been told that like many other Fae, I have seen his concubine in Faery more than once, but I do not remember what she looked like. I have drunk from the cauldron many times since his first concubine killed herself, but they say that Ariel bore a strong resemblance to his concubine in face, form and manner."

"No one can know for sure, but perhaps your Ariel was the Unseelie King's soul mate. That is why he was so angry when you tried to take Ariel from him. That is why he slaughtered your wives and families. That is why he slaughtered my family." Danal's voice was hoarse with emotion as he talked. Barrons kept slashing at the different images of the Fae prince with no success.

"Arghhh! This is ridiculous. I will not alisten this. I will not agree to your bargain. I will hunt you all until the day that the Fae exist no more. That includes your family, Danal." Barrons howled in rage as he started for the door.

"Zigor,you are our leader. We would all follow you to hell and back. He has already given the elixir to Bridget and Leni, and I for one, am glad of that. There is nothing that can be done about it now, but you do not have the right to make that decision for the others. They have the right to decide for themselves. This means that we can all have families again; our wives will live with us for thousands of years. We do not need to be afraid to love mortal women anymore. Not one of us would say no to this bargain, you know that." Tegan said as he moved to place himself in front of Barrons.

Barrons stopped for a few moments; he was breathing hard trying to control himself. He could feel the change coming on; he could feel the beast inside him trying to get out, and he did not want to change in front of Danal. He breathed deeply and looked hard at the older Draghar warrior, and then he looked at Ryodan. Ryodan nodded his agreement. "Tegan is right. The elixir of life is a gift, Zigor. You do not have the right to deny it to the others."

"Tell them then, if you must. They can agree to it if they choose, but count me out. I would never even fuck a human who has Fae blood in her veins, let alone choose one as a mate. That is impossible." He was still angry, but most of the fury was gone. He felt empty and defeated. He knew what this meant. Only he would go back.

"I do believe that you will choose one of my bloodline, Zigor. Catriona has seen it. The one you choose will be the most powerful sidhe seer of all times. Cat said that this woman will be able to sense the Sinsar Dubh. She will be the descendant of one of my Fae sons, although Catriona did not know which one. This woman will have more power than all the other sidhe seers combined, even the Fae will tremble before her. You will recognize her Fae blood, but you will choose her anyway because she will get you what you want. You will change for her; she will be your soul mate; of that I am certain."

Barrons snorted in disgust and disbelief.

"I will give all of your soul mates mates the elixir of life, but there is one caveat." Danal stated.

"What did I tell you; you can never trust a Fae. There is always a catch. Barrons growled.

Danal continued. "Although I would like to give the elixir to all of my human descendants if I could, I only have enough for one woman per Draghar male. So I must use it wisely. I must be certain that the woman is the true soul mate of the warrior."

"Who will make that decision, fairy? You?" Barrons asked incredulously. He did not believe a word this fairy prince was saying. He wondered how Tegan and Ryodan could be so foolish.

"No. I it is not my decision to make, and besides, I am too busy trying to keep my Fae family safe. I trust Tegan to make that decision. Perhaps because he has had the experience, he alone among you can recognize when a male and a female are soul mates. Now, if we are done. I wish to meet my new granddaughter, Serena. You have until the night of Leni's wedding to tell me your decision." Danal said as he shifted out.

Barrons walked back to the table. "Do you believe him, Te?" he asked.

Tegan nodded. "I believe he thinks he is telling the truth. I have known him for a long time. He will do anything for his family, Fae or human. He is an honorable being. He will keep his word." The huge warrior said.

"First Bridget, then Leni, then Monika, and now Megan. I do agree with Danal in one sense. Something has happened that allows Draghar to sire children again after all these centuries. Although, I think Danal is just trying to save his skin and that of his family, on the odd chance that he is right, I will not try to stand in your way if you choose to tell the others." Barrons stated.

"I do not think it wise to tell them all at once though. Some of the older ones will surely believe that this is only lies, as I do. I suggest you start with Tegner and Kasteo first; they have the most to lose. Yes, I know that Kasteo's woman carries his child in her womb; I smelled it tonight. I will stop hunting and killing Danal's Fae family, but know this, I will never accept a woman who bears Fae blood. The though of that is ludicrous. It disgusts me." Barrons continued before he turned and walked out.

Marty's Pub, ten days later

Serena Mitchell stood at the bar in Marty's. She was looking at the mirrored wall behind the bar waiting for the bartender to finish with her order. On the night, she met her three cousins and her Fae grandfather for the first time, Uncle Marty also offered her a part time job working as a waitress from six to twelve during the week. He had lost one of his best weeknight waitresses who was moving to the states to live with her daughter and new grandson. Serena had plenty of waitressing experience; she had worked after school in several places in Abilene since she was seventeen. She liked working here. The pub was a friendly place, and the patrons were nice.

Serena's college tuition, rent and some of her living expenses were paid for out of the trust fund her parents had set up for her when she was little, but she had to economize. She didn't mind. She was good at that. She supplemented her trust fund with money made from tutoring other students, but that was time consuming. The tips alone from this part time job were more than she made from tutoring. She was the kind of person who liked people, and she was grateful for the job.

She had been amazed when she met Bridget, Leni and Sean. Well, actually, she knew Sean slightly from school. She was only eighteen, but she was already a sophomore at Trinity. She had been drawn to the handsome student as many of the college coeds were, but unlike them, she did not like him in a romantic way. There was something about the tall copper eyed brunette male who made her feel comfortable. She had always felt at ease with him, and if her schedule had allowed it, she would have gotten to know him better. She knew they could have been friends.

Bridget and Leni were really wonderful. She hit it off with them right away. They made her feel welcome and part of the family. That was important to her. Serena had always envied her friends who had large families; she always wished she had brothers and sisters and cousins to celebrate holidays with and to visit. All three of her cousins would be good friends, and she liked that.

She had known that Danal was her grandfather from the very moment she met him. She loved him from the first, just as she loved her cousins. Even if she did not feel the draw of his Fae blood, her father, Galen, had once painted a portrait of his father, and it looked just like him. She wondered now if that was why she had always been attracted to Sean. The resemblance was amazing.

Serena had known from the time she was a little girl that her father, Galen was the son of a noble Fae prince. She had seen his magic many times. He and her mother explained to her why she must never say a word to anybody about him, and she never did. Her family lived a simple quiet life in Texas. Her father was an art teacher at a local high school. Her mother was a teacher at the same school. They both liked their jobs; it was where they met.

They always had enough, but they were not rich. One day she asked her father why didn't he just create a lot of money for them using his Fae powers. Galen carefully explained that using his Fae powers would draw the other Fae to them. He was afraid of his kind, especially a royal prince named, V-Lane, who was the queen's favorite lover.

Her father said that his father, Danal, and his Fae house had served the queen for centuries, but finally they rebelled against V-Lane. They wanted V-Lane to stop the Great Hunt, and to stop abusing human men and women. They also believed that V-Lane was a traitor, and that he was trying to usurp their queen's power. Aiobheal was so besotted by her favorite lover that she would not believe their warnings. She allowed her V-Lane to hunt and kill members of their Fae family and their human progeny. There were other enemies out there too, but Galen mentioned only a race called the Draghar.

Galen had been in hiding in the United States for many years when he met Cynthia, her mother. He fell in love with her; he said that Cynthia was his soul mate, and her mother said the same thing. Serena understood what he meant when she saw them together. The love in their eyes for each other was so different from what she saw in the parents of her school chums. When they were together, the air around them was electric and it shown with a warm golden aura.

Her parents never got tired of each other. It was hard for them to keep their hands off of each other, but it was not like the groping and grabbing, she had seen many times on TV or from her schoolmates. It was as if her parents needed to touch each other in order to live. Serena knew that they would die without each other.

She had no doubt that her parents were still sexually attracted to each other even after almost twenty years of marriage. When she was fourteen years old, she had walked in on them in the living room one day when she was supposed to be on a school trip. She was embarrassed by what she saw and blushed beet red. It was fortunate that her parents were so involved with each other that they had no idea she was even there. She beat a hasty retreat to her best friend's house, but their words of love and sounds of ecstasy that they made left an indelible imprint on her brain.

After seeing her parents together, Serena understood that was how true lovemaking between a woman and a man should be. She wanted the same for herself, and she was never going to settle for less. She was three months away from her nineteenth birthday, and she was still a virgin. She had been sexually aroused many times by boys who wanted to "hook up" with her, but she never gave into the temptation. She wanted the "real" thing.

Her parents had mysteriously died a year ago. They were found in their car on the side of the highway. They were driving back from a teacher's conference in Houston. There was no evidence of injury or foul play; they were just dead. No one could say what actually happened. When Serena identified their bodies, Galen and Serena Mitchell looked like they were merely sleeping. With Uncle Marty's help, she got their bodies out of the morgue and cremated them. She spread their ashes in the mountains where they went every summer. She left the next day for Ireland with him. Serena suspected that V-Lane, the queen's lover was behind her parents death, but she had no proof.

Tonight as she stared into the mirrored wall behind the bar, Serena felt a familiar awareness. "Oh, no, not him again. Why can't he stay out of here?" She thought as she looked into the mirror and watched Lor and his friend Angus walk by to a table in the back with two women. This was the third woman Lor had brought in since she worked here. The woman was extremely beautiful in a classical way; she was tall with black hair, green eyes and that creamy skin so common in Irish women. Serena recognized her immediately. She was a fashion model who went by one name, Cherie, or Sherry, or some such. Serena hated her immediately.

"Please, God, please. Please, please let them sit in Kelly's station." Serena prayed silently as she carried a tray of drinks and snacks to another table near the back.

The big man, Lor, rode her constantly every time he saw her since that first night, and she hated being near him. What was worse was that her body was never under control when he was around. She felt his heat and his unusual electric sexual aura, and it affected her mightily. She wanted him as strongly as the women he brought in here. She was afraid that he would know how he affected her if she was too close to him for any length of time. She would die of embarrassment if he knew.

Serena was definitely attracted to Lor, but for the life of her, she could not figure out why. At thirty or so, he was was too old for her. He was dangerous; he gave off the aura of a predator, much like a large wild animal. He moved silently with a sinuous grace like a predator ready to strike without warning. Violence smoldered in black eyes that saw everything. His ancient eyes were often cold and as hard as ice, but they were also beautiful eyes, haunted with loss and pain.

When she first met him, she thought his visage too hard and too harsh to be truly handsome, but after less than two weeks, she knew she was wrong; he was simply beautiful to her. The women he brought in evidently thought so too. Serena had a great sense of smell, and she could smell their desire for him just as she could also smell his lust for them, but she knew one thing that they did not seem to know: these women meant less than nothing to Lor. They were tools to satisfy his carnal appetites, that's all. They disgusted her. Lor disgusted her too, the animal. She would never let him use her like that.

Serena breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the four of them sit down at a table in Kelly's section. They were there for more than an hour. During that time, she often felt Lor's eyes on her. She looked up once to see him staring at her intently with confusion, anger and some unknowable emotion in his ancient eyes. For a moment, she had the ridiculous idea that he was attracted to her, but she quickly brushed that aside. She didn't want him to be really attracted to her; she was afraid of him.

He had come in almost every night with a woman, and she was almost always their waitress. He taunted and teased her unmercifully. It was not sexual innuendo like the first time; he simply rode her for what he said was her lack of waitressing skills. She was a good waitress' she knew it, and his comments rankled her. Whenever he came in, she prayed that she would not have to wait on him.

On the third night that she worked at the pub, she was walking the six blocks to her small studio apartment when her shift had ended. Lor pulled up beside her in his sports car and insisted that she get in the car. She almost didn't, but it was rainy, windy and cold. Her umbrella had broken, and she was soaked, so she did as he asked. During the ten minute ride, he criticized her incessantly. He made it clear that he thought she was foolish for walking the streets alone that late at night. It was too dangerous he said. He also told her she was a silly child who did not belong working in a pub. She drove her old beat up Volkswagon to the pub after that.

That night when they arrived at her building, she politely thanked him for the ride as she got out. In the same polite tone, she told him he was not her father, so he could just mind his own damn business. She walked to the door of the all night restaurant below her apartment, but before she stepped inside, she turned and saw him sitting in the car staring at her; he was angry with her for some reason; she didn't understand. She didn't know why she did it, but she stuck her tongue out at him and flipped him the bird. She must have got to him, because he squealed his tires as he drove away. He criticized her even more harshly after that.

The ten minute ride had been an eternity for Serena. All the time he talked, the only thing she wanted to do is crawl up in his lap, put her arms around his neck and shut his mouth by kissing him. That wasn't all she wanted to do, either, but she had always been good at hiding her feelings. She hoped that Lor had no idea what she was thinking that night.

Lor sat at the table and watched Serena as she worked. He was so concentrated on the young woman that he heard only half of the conversation going on around him. With her silver blonde hair and silver eyes, the young woman was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen. Still, he wondered why he was so attracted to her.

She was Fae touched, of that he was sure. That in and of itself should have made him want to run from her as fast as he could, but it didn't matter to him. He wanted her so much, he was on fire with it. The intensity of the need he felt for her was like nothing he had ever known before; it was consuming him. He used the women he was with to try and ease that need, and they did, but only momentarily. That made him frustrated and angry with Serena. He did not like any woman affecting him that way, especially not one so young and innocent.

Last Saturday, he had seen Serena dance with some young human male who was obviously her date as Leni, Bridget and Sean sang with the band. She wasn't working; she was on a date; he just knew it. She clearly knew and liked the boy a lot. Lor was surprised by the depth of the jealousy he felt as he watched her having a good time with the young male. He never had felt jealous before; he was territorial and possessive of the women he thought were his, but he had never felt jealousy before. It was a new emotion for him, and it ate at him with large gnawing fangs.

A few times, he thought Serena felt the same attraction to him as he felt to her, and that made him even angrier. If Serena ever gave him even the smallest sign that she was interested in him as a lover, he knew he would jump on it so fast her head would spin. He also knew that he would be totally lost if he did so. He did not want to get involved with her. She was not his type; she was too young; she was to innocent, she was too this; she was too that. There were too many reasons to count.

Still, he could not get Serena Mitchell out of his mind. He felt strangely incomplete if he went for a night without seeing her. He was an ancient being; he had lived almost forever, and he would live for eternity beyond. He never had trouble controlling his emotions about a female before.

He had a family like the others; he cared for his wife; she was a good woman, but he could not honestly say he loved her. He had loved his half human children, but something told him it was wrong to try and bring them back. It would not be the same; he had changed. Yet he would help Zigor as he had pledged.

So, why were these feelings for Serena happening to him now? Why did he feel so strongly about her. Why couldn't he control it; the loss of control was new to him, and it was killing him.

Lor felt a strong sense of relief when Serena left work early that night. _"This must stop. I will not come in here tomorrow night, no matter what," _he said to himself firmly. Even as he said it, he knew he was lying. He would be here tomorrow night, and the next night, and the next night, and the night after that until he figured this thing out.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 22

The McDonald mansion, that same night

Leni, Bridget, Aunt Diana, Monika, and Megan sat with a bunch of Bridget's friends in the drawing room of the McDonald house. Aunt Diana and Leni had planned a surprise baby shower for Bridget. She was due to deliver in a month. Leni had been tasked with getting Bridget there by eight o'clock. She claimed she wanted to stop by and check on Aunt Diana, who supposedly wasn't wasn't feeling well.

Their cousin, Serena, was due to arrive shortly after ten. She had planned to take the night off and work Saturday instead, but an unexpected absence of one of the other pub waitresses caused a change in plans. The usual games had been played, and the presents opened by the time Serena arrived with an elegantly wrapped gift in her hands.

Aunt Diana and Uncle Patrick had met Serena the first night she worked at Marty's. Diana McDonald felt drawn to the beautiful young blonde. For some reason, as soon as she laid eyes on Serena, she felt a strong "motherly" instinct. Serena clearly felt drawn to Bridget's mother, much as she was drawn to her three first cousins. Uncle Martin introduced Serena as his "niece." That was all it took for Diana to request Serena to call her "Aunt."

"It seems that the McDonald's are related to half of Dublin and now America too. If you are Marty's niece, you must be Patrick's niece as well, so please call me "Aunt." You are American; aren't you? From Texas, I believe. I just love your accent." Diana McDonald said.

With just a few sentences, Serena Mitchell was welcomed into the greater McDonald family. The girl, who had grown up an only child, and who had just met three new first cousins, now had huge family to call her own. She liked it.

"Sorry, I couldn't make it earlier, but Uncle Marty needed me tonight. Oh, God, Bridget, don't get up. You look ready to pop." The younger blonde teased with a wide smile on her face.

Bridget smiled happily back at the newest member of the family. She could feel joy and goodness in the teenager; she always felt calm and happy around Serena and wondered if that was her cousin's sidhe seer gift. Serena fit in so well with the family. Her mother, especially, loved her on sight and asked her to move in with them, as did she and Tegan. Leni and Ryodan had asked too, but Serena said no to all of them. She liked her small apartment, and she liked her independence.

Leni sat back on an overstuffed arm chair stroking her stomach. Ian was restless tonight; he had been anxious for several days. She tried singing and humming to him; took warm luxurious baths and constantly stroked her stomach, but her son was tense. She reached again for his mind with hers. She felt his fear and anxiety, but could not fathom the reason. He would calm down for Ryodan, but her man would not be home for hours, and Ian continued to move uneasily within her.

Serena sat down beside Leni on the arm of her chair. As if sensing, Ian's distress, she said, "May, I?" When Leni nodded, Serena put her hand on Leni's belly and began to rub. Leni could feel Ian gravitate toward Serena's hand. After mere moments, her son quieted. Leni could feel Ian's mind as it drifted into sleep.

"Thanks, cousin," Leni smiled at Serena and whispered low, "He's been kicking my innards out all day."

Leni could not help but wonder if the elixir that Danal had given her and Bridget was affecting her unborn son. She had said as much to Bridget earlier in the day, but her cousin didn't think so. In fact, Bridget said that she had never felt better. Truth was, that, except for Ian's anxiety, Leni had never felt better, either.

At first, Leni had been outraged when she found out that Danal had given the two of them the elixir of life without their consent. Apparently, he had asked Sean first, and her male cousin agreed immediately to take the potion. Danal had also told Serena about the elixir of life the night he met her for the first time. Serena agreed to take the potion, but she wanted to wait a few years first. Danal didn't like the response, but he accepted Serena's decision.

When Ryodan and Tegan explained the next day what their grandfather had done to them, Bridget had no qualms with it. She seemed quite happy about it. She explained that Rhianna, Tegan's first soul mate had predicted when and how she and Tegan would meet again as soul mates. Rhianna had not only described the other women to him, but she told Tegan their names as well. The only problem was, Rhianna confirmed that she never saw any other woman after Bridget. Bridget was apparently the last soul mate Tegan would ever have.

"Don't you see, Leni? I don't want Tegan to live eternally without someone to love after I die. I am glad that I will be with him for thousands of years. Who knows how long we will live. We are already part Fae, perhaps we will live a lot longer than a normal human who has been given the potion. I don't care that grandfather didn't ask me first. I would have said yes anyway. I only know Tegan will be with me for a long, long time. I really think this was meant to be. Can't you see that?" Bridget asked. She really could not understand Leni's anger.

"But Bridget, we had a right to make that decision for ourselves, and what if the elixir hurts our sons? Doctors don't want want pregnant women to even take normal medicine while they are carrying in case it hurts the baby. I will never forgive him if anything happens to Ian or your son, Patrick." Leni protested.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Munchins. Grandfather would not do anything to hurt us or our sons, and you know it." Bridget replied. That was the end of the discussion as far as she was concerned.

Leni knew she would have agreed to take the elixir too if given a choice, but still the fact that Danal had acted without their consent rankled. She and Bridget had been checked several times by both Dr. O'Malley and Megan McCormack; every indicator was as right as rain. Still, she planned to have a discussion with the old Fae prince at her wedding. He would not be doing anything behind her back like that again; there were boundaries that even a Fae grandfather had to respect, period.

By eleven. Bridget's human friends had left. Only Leni, Bridget, Serena, Megan and Monika sat with Aunt Diana. The women were talking softly as they examined Bridget's baby gifts once more when Danal appeared out of nowhere and sat down in an armchair across from Aunt Diana. He was in full Fae mode tonight. Tall, strong and so beautiful he made your eyes hurt with his iridescent skin and eyes. When he sat down, he put one finger to his lips and shook his head.

Monika and Megan's eyes widened when the Fae prince appeared. They could both see Danal, and they knew that Leni, Bridget and Serena could see him too, but they knew that their hostess, Diana McDonald, could not. The woman carried on as if nothing had happened. Both Monika and Megan, wondered about that. Leni looked at them and shook her head. "Later," she mouthed.

"Tell us about your father, Mama." Bridget asked as she smiled at her grandfather. "Yes, Aunt Diana. Tell us about grandfather." Leni agreed. Diana McDonald smiled softly, but the smile was wistful.

"I never met him; he died in Vietnam before Sarah, and I were born. Mama used to tell us about him. Her stories were so real and wonderful that it was as if he was right there with us." Diana began talking about the father she never met, but had loved all of her life. The man she described was tall with chocolate brown hair highlighted with sunlight and with copper eyes flecked with gold. He was a wonderful man; a veritable prince of a man; a good, kind and courageous man. And how he loved her mother, Catriona, who called him her Fae prince.

"Most people thought that O'Gallagher was Mama's married name, but they were never legally married. O'Gallagher was actually her maiden name; she told us that when we were little. It never mattered to Sarah or me. We never knew what his last name was; Mama never told us. My mother, Catriona O'Gallagher, and my father, Prince Danal, were meant to be together. They were soul mates, you know. Just like Patrick and me, and just like your parents too, Leni."

"You know it's funny, but Mama made Father seem so real to Sarah and me that we used to make up stories about him. We dreamed of him, and we always knew he loved us, even though he never met us. Sometimes Sarah and I could feel his spirit with us, especially when we were feeling sad or bad. We knew it was him because we could feel his love; it felt so warm and good. I felt him near when both you and Sean were born, Bridget. Sarah said she also felt him nearby the day that you were born, Leni."

"Mama didn't have many photos of him, but she painted pictures of Father. She gave Sarah and me both one, but I don't know what happened to them. I think mine got lost in the move to Dublin. I have been thinking a lot about Father since your accident. I felt him that night. You know, all of a sudden, I'm very tired; I am going up to bed and leave you girls to talk. Stay as long as you like. Don't worry about anything, Bridget. Mary and Anna will clean up after you." Diana McDonald stated as she walked toward the door.

Leni looked at her grandfather; the Fae prince had a soft smile on his face, but there were tears in his eyes. Diana stood for a moment at the doorway; she had a sad look on her face. In an instant, Danal was next to his daughter, embracing her and kissing her check. Diana tensed for a second; her trembling fingers touched the spot that Danal had kissed. A look of pure happiness lighted her beautiful features.

"I feel my father here in this room so strongly tonight. He really feels wonderful to me," she said. She was smiling as she turned and left the room.

"I don't understand. Who is that man, and why couldn't your mother see him?" Monika asked a few moments later. She had a strong suspicion who the Fae was since she easily saw the likeness to Sean, but she wanted to hear it from someone else. Danal had come and sat back down with the five remaining women. He smiled at all of them in turn.

"I am Danal. I am Bridget, Leni, Sean and Serena's grandfather. I am Diana's father; she can't see me because she is not seer like you, Monika Iversson. She cannot see the Fae."

"I don't understand, either. If Mrs. McDonald is your daughter; she is half Fae; she shouldn't have to be sidhe seer. Why can't she see you?" Megan McCormack asked. Bridget and Leni both nodded. They had both wanted an answer to the question that had bothered them since they each first met Danal.

"One would think a half Fae/half human child would automatically be able to see his or her Fae parent, but it doesn't always work like that. Like the sidhe seer gift, the ability to see the Fae sometimes skips the first generation, but I think it is more than that. At the time that I took Catriona from the abbey, the head mistress, a woman who was named Maigret, hated Cat even more than she hated the Fae. She cursed Catriona and our children. I think that is why neither Diana nor Sarah could ever see me."

"Most abbesses or grand mistresses were good women, but Maigret was not. She lusted for power even more than the current abbess, Rowena, who, by the way is her grand niece, I believe. Maigret was a powerful sidhe seer who had the gift of coercion. Her gift was very strong; she could make anyone do anything she wanted. Anyone, except Catriona, that is."

"Maigret feared Catriona, since she rebelled against her strictures. Nothing she could do, could control your grandmother. Cat was a challenge to Maigret's authority and a thorn in her side. She told the others that Cat just wanted to be Grand Mistress, but she didn't know your grandmother all that well. Cat hated the monastery. She hated the way the sidhe seers were trained to automatically hate the Fae, not that my kind did not deserve that hatred. Cat believed that kind of mindless hatred killed the soul."

"Catriona said that the whole place reeked with evil and the black hatred which was the mother's milk they were fed. She argued that one cannot defeat one kind of evil by using another kind of evil, and Cat considered hatred the worst kind of evil. She never wanted to be in that place and wanted to get away in the worst way. Even if she was not my soul mate, Catriona would have found a way to get away from the monastery; she said it was killing her slowly."

"When Maigret found out that Cat was pregnant and wanted to leave, instead of being happy, she was horrified. She felt Cat was a terrible example for the others. She felt the others would be influenced by her and would try to leave too. She held Cat captive until I rescued her. I sifted Maigret's mind, I know she was going to kill Cat and make her an example for the rest of the sidhe seers. She was in Cat's cell when I broke her out. She cursed Cat and our children before we got away."

"It was terrible to learn that Diana and Sarah could never see me, but I was so happy to know that they could feel me, whenever I was near. That is something, at least. Bridget, you and Sean never saw me either, until a few months ago, and Leni, you never saw me until you were fifteen. I was around all of you many times, but I think the curse is wearing off now. Diana's reaction to me tonight was faster and stronger than it ever was before. I think it is possible that she will eventually see me one day. At least, I hope so." Danal softly said.

"I could make her see me, if I chose, but the energy I expend doing that would be like a flashing beacon to other Fae. V-Lane and the others would sense Diana is my child in seconds. I could never risk it with either her or Sarah. V-Lane and his minions would have gladly killed my daughters just to get back at me." Danal said bitterly. For a moment, his eyes shown with hatred and rage so alien it made the women shudder.

The truth hit Bridget and Leni at the same time, "You have been here in this house many times, haven't you?" Bridget asked. "I have seen that look on Mama's face many times."

"You were at my grandmother's house many times too, weren't you?" Leni asked. Danal nodded yes to both questions.

"I am very glad that both Monika and Megan are sidhe seers and can see me. You are both mine too. Monika, you are a descendants of my Fae son, Fallon, and Megan, you are a descendant of my Fae daughter, Ydris. I smell their blood and my blood in you both. My blood goes back at least four or five generations; I am probably your 2nd or 3rd great grandfather. but I know you are mine, nonetheless. I knew it the night that I met Serena at Marty's Pub. I wanted to talk to you, but I had a pressing appointment with Tegan and Ryodan, and you left before I got a chance to speak with you."

"Ydris was your father, Galen's, fraternal twin, Serena. He looked like his mother; Ydris looks like me. Fallon was younger by more than fifty thousand years. He looked like my second Fae wife; she was a small brunette like you, Monika. Galen is dead, and I haven't seen either Ydris or Fallon in centuries," he said sadly.

"You mean we are all related? Why didn't I sense their Fae blood. I sensed Serena as strongly as I sense Bridget and Sean." Leni asked.

"Monika and Megan are both several generations removed from their Fae fbloodline. I suspect that is why you didn't recognize their Fae blood; it is very thin, but recognizable to a full Fae, nevertheless. Tell me, did you immediately recognize Serena as kin?" Danal asked. He was curious.

"Yes, I think now that I did. I thought it was just her Faeness that I felt with my sidhe seer senses. I was unusually drawn to her. I felt a kinship with her. Bridget and Sean felt it too. I could tell." Leni responded.

"It's true. Sean and I both felt an immediate kinship with Serena." Bridget said as she took the younger woman's hand in hers.

Danal smiled. "I think that you will always be able to recognize one with your Fae blood now. That is important. If Cat is right, all nine of the Draghar will eventually mate with a female from my bloodline." He started to stand.

"Grandfather, before you go this time, I have something for you. Please wait here." Leni asked. Her grandfather looked at her curiously, but he nodded.

Leni left the room and was back in a few minutes with her jacket on. She had gone outside to the limo passing the druid body guards on the way. When she returned, she had an antique wooden box and several rolled canvases. The box contained the letters Catriona O'Gallagher had written, but not mailed, to Danal over the years. The canvasses contained the paintings their grandmother had made of him. Since both Tegan and Ryodan's homes were heavily warded against the Fae, Leni began to keep the letters and paintings in the limo, just in case she ran into her grandfather again.

Danal had sat back down on his armchair. Leni sat down on one arm of the chair. Bridget sat on the other; she nodded at Leni who said, "Bridget and I both think these belong to you. I found these when I was cleaning out Gran's house." Both girls were smiling mightily.

Bridget stated, "Leni and I started to read some of the letters, grandfather, but we stopped. We soon realized that they were meant for your eyes only. Leni and I each kept of couple pf paintings that Gran made and some photographs Gran took of you. We hope you don't mind."

Danal's hands shook as he opened a letter and read. Leni wondered if it was one of the passionate one in which Gran had poured out her feelings for Danal. Thinking of the letters made her shiver lightly. She looked at Bridget and could see that Bridget felt the same way.

Tenderly refolding the letter and carefully placing it back into its envelope and then into the box, Danal splayed his hands over the box and closed his eyes for a moment. He unrolled one of the paintings and gasped. It was a water color of him reclining nude on a blanket on the beach at Sea Isle. The painting was so full of love that no one looking at it could have doubted how Catriona O'Gallagher felt about this man.

Danal rolled the painting and placed the wooden box on a coffee table. Standing up with Leni and Bridget on either side, he embraced them tightly while the three of them cried together for long moments.

"I will never forget this, my lovely granddaughters. You have given me the most wonderful and precious gift I have ever received." Many humans believe the Fae do not feel emotions, but deep emotion rolled through Danal in great waves. They made his iridescent eyes and skin pulse. His golden aura shown brighter and warmer too.

"I loved Catriona more than life itself. More than I ever thought possible, and so much more than my other soul mates. You should know that I when I found the elixir, I wanted to give it to Cat, but she she refused to take it. She said she was almost sixty years old and it wasn't fair for me to be stuck with an old woman like that forever. I told her I didn't care, but she would have none of it."

"On the night she died, Catriona told me that we will meet again very soon; she had seen us together again.. She said next time time, it will be her, not just her soul. She said she would take it then, when she is young and beautiful again and can give me many children." Danal whispered hoarsely, his melodious voice shook with with love, loss and pain. Seconds later, he popped out.

"What elixir? What was your grandfather talking about?" Megan asked. This was all too confusing. She had just gotten her head around the fact that she was a sidhe seer able to see the mythical creatures called the Fae, but the Unseelie Fae she had seen with Kasteo were not beautiful like Danal. They were monsters.

She knew immediately what Danal was; her sidhe seer senses went on full alert, as soon as he popped into the living room, but unlike the Unseelie, she was never afraid of the gorgeous prince. She felt as if her blood knew him somehow. What she could not quite accept was that this handsome hunk, who barely looked a year or two older than she, was actually her many times great grandfather. From the look on Monika's face, she rightly guessed that the little brunette hadn't quite accepted it either.

"That is for Kasteo and Tegner to discuss with you." Serena said before Leni or Bridget could answer. "I am surprised that they haven't talked about it yet. By the way, I am glad to find out that we are related too." Danal had told her about the elixir of life, but she wanted to wait a while before she took it. She wanted to make sure she had found her true soul mate first, and she wasn't going to accept willy nilly that it had to be a Draghar. Although, if it was, it was sure to be Lor. Her stomach tightened a little and her breath started a little faster as she thought about him. She had started to have very erotic dreams of the big Draghar warrior.

About three o'clock the next morning, Angus and Lor parked a nondescript black SUV in back of a row of run down warehouses outside the town of Blackrock. They were pursuing a lead on the two cars that had tried to run Bridget and Leni down less than two weeks before. Angus had driven the last half mile with the headlamps off. There was no moon tonight, and it was blacker than the deepest abyss, but the two Draghar warriors needed no light to see; their night vision was hundreds of times better than most human's day vision.

It was quiet. The only sound was the motor of the SUV as it pulled to a stop outside two huge rusted metal doors. The two men sat silently for a few minutes and waited to see if anyone was around, but nothing stirred. A sudden gust of wind screeched mournfully through the shattered windows of the rotting run down buildings. The sound was eerie and haunted like this place. There was a strong sense of evil here.

This area had once been a bustling area of commerce. The century old buildings had been filled with huge containers of goods imported from all over the world. Rotting roofs and walls, vermin infestations and frequent fires caused by aged electrical wiring had made the warehouses uninsurable more than twenty years ago. The then owner, a well known gangster who preceded Rocky O'Bannion, had more than sufficient wealth to tear the buildings down and erect new ones, but he had wisely chosen to put his money in new real estate much closer to the port instead.

Although the buildings had been condemned, for a short time, drifters and other transients had squatted in the old buildings, but they had been driven away. Supposedly, the place was actually haunted by ghosts of men who had been killed and buried in this place. Their deaths had not been easy; they have been tortured for hours or hacked to pieces for some betrayal or another. Their bodies had never been found, and if they were mourned at all, it was only by their families.

Angus and Lor could smell old death in this place, but they weren't frightened by ghosts. The two of them were far scarier than any insubstantial wraith; still their animal senses were on alert. Stepping outside of the car, the two huge warriors reached into the back seat and removed two Uzi submachine guns. Neither one wore a coat, nor a jacket in spite of the cold November night. Their long dark hair was held in place by a black leather thong. Their harsh faces were angular but handsome; their intelligent black eyes were cold and icy. There was no expression at all on their faces, but if anyone could see them now, they would think only one thing: These men were predators: they were both nearly six and a half feet of hell, death and destruction, and they were virtually unstoppable.

Where uncovered, their golden skin cast an alien aura in the darkness that was clearly not human. Both had badly scarred hands. They were dressed all in black. Black pants that fit like second skin hugged slim, tight slim hips and large, well developed legs. Short sleeved black T-shirts, stretched tight across massive chests and ripped abs, emphasized huge muscled biceps and forearms the size of small trees. Whatever material the t-shirts were made of, it wasn't simple cotton; it moved and flowed as the men moved and flowed: the tightness didn't hamper them a bit.

Both warriors didn't walk so much as glide; they displaced the air around them, simply filling space that had been empty a second before. They were both big, big men, each weighing at least two hundred and fifty pounds, but their steps were as light as a cat's. They were silent and stealthy like two primitive wild animals stalking their prey. Their heads moved side to side in a way that wasn't even remotely human as they constantly surveyed the scene.

They were both armed to the hilt with the guns, knives, swords and other unfamiliar weapons. Each man wore two bandoliers of bullets crisscrossed over their chests. They had come prepared to go to war, and from the looks of them, the two warriors could have easily taken out an army. At the door, Lor spun and with one kick of a boot clad foot, he shattered the huge metal doors.

Lor and Angus stepped inside at the same time. The stench of decay hit their nostrils. Inside the warehouse, a burned out white Volvo and a burnt out black sedan sat. In the front seat of the both cars was a burnt body. There was enough clothing left to determine that they were both males. Both bodies were frozen in a rictus of death; their mouths open and screaming. Their burnt hands clawing at the locked doors trying to get out.

Whatever flesh was left on the corpses was beyond the ability to rot. The stench didn't come from either of them. Curiously the fires were mostly in the front seats only; the back seats looked barely touched. The fires had not destroyed the license plate on either vehicle. They were the cars they had been searching for these past ten days. There was a third car in the warehouse. It was an expensive sports car, and there was a dead body in the front seat.

"That's Moira Harnkess' car, isn't it?" Lor asked.

Angus nodded his head. "It looks like her in the front seat."

A woman's body lay slumped against the steering wheel. Long red hair covered her face. Lor opened the driverside door and pulled the body out of the car, and turned it on its back. There was a Glock Nine in the woman's right han. The right side of her face was completely shattered. The left side of her face had been partially destroyed when the bullet exited. There had been some unseasonably warm days during the last week; decay had bloated what was left of the body. Even the hands were swollen and partially decayed. There was really no way to determine who she was, but everything about her screamed Moira Harkness, including the hair and general body type.

"Look at the left wrist. Isn't that one of the bracelets that Ry gave to Moira." Angus asked. "It's like the trinkets he gave to all of his women."

"Yeah, I recognize it too. I've seen her wear that dress before,and it smells likeher blood on it, too." Lor answered from the car. He was sitting in the passenger seat searching. He had found Moira's Gucci handbag with her wallet. It contained her driver's license, credit cards and about five hundred pounds. There was a note in the handbag addresses to Ryodan. It was a suicide note.

"Better get Ry out here now." Lor declared. Angus punched a code in his cellphone. Within a half an hour, Ryodan stood and surveyed the scene. He had read the note several times; it was dated four days before. Moira admitted attempting to kill Leni for stealing Ryodan away from her.

"Ry, I loved you, and she took you away from me. She had to pay for that; I wanted her dead. I hired these incompetent fools to kill her; they tried twice, but failed. Now the sow is carrying your brat. When they found out you were looking for them, they got scared. They tried to blackmail me for two hundred thousand pounds; the fools. The bastards paid for their arrogance. Before they died, they told me you were looking for me. I knew you would find me; it was inevitable. I know what you would do to me; I prefer not to go through that. You want to kill me, but I beat you to it. Did I spoil your fun, Ry? If so, too bad. I know one thing; that little blonde bitch will never love you the way I did; she will never make you feel the way I did. I hate you both, and I hope you both rot in hell. Moira."

"You're wrong, Moira. No one makes me feel the way Leni does. I love her." Ryodan said out loud as he stared down at the body. As he stood there, he knew something wasn't right.

"Do you think it's Moira, Ry? The body's too far gone, but the blood on the dress and in the car smells like her. Still..." Lor said.

"Moira was a vain bitch. I don't see her doing this to herself. If she was going to kill herself, she wouldn't destroy her face doing it." Angus spoke up before Lor finished his thought.

"You're right, Angus. Even if she wasn't vain about her looks, Moira wouldn't kill herself with a gun. Women don't commit suicide like this. They do it the easy way with pills, or a quick, painless poison. Get James Doherty down here tomorrow. See if he can identify the body." Ryodan answered.

Ryodan was Incandescent with rage. The handwriting was definitely Moira's, and she had just admitted to attempting to kill Leni and his son. He did not think the body was Moira's. When he found the redheaded bitch, she would kill her, but first she would suffer. Ryodan hated Moira Harkness more than he hated the Unseelie King; more than he hated the Fae. She had tried to kill the woman he loved. She tried to kill what was his.

Ryodan's face was a mask of hate and loathing. He lost control and started to change. The skin on his body started to turn black, the nighttime color of the beast. His eyes flashed with red; fangs and talons erupted. Within seconds, a prehistoric nine foot beast with a triple set of horns running down the side of its large head stood on its hind legs and bayed its rage into the night. An expensive Armani suit hung in tatters from his enlarged frame. A minute later, two other similar beasts bayed beside him. Dogs and other animals screamed their fear into the night from the country side.

The beast form of Ryodan bit into the body of the dead woman. His long tongue tasted her as he shook the body from side to side He ripped off large a chunk from the body's torso, and drove his tongue inside once more, but he did not eat. The dead woman was not Moira. He spat the dead flesh out; he was not interested in it any longer.

The beast took off down the road, across the field and into the woods beyond baying loudly again as he did so. The other two followed him. The three of them would eat tonight; they would feast on what their beast form craved most; fresh killed meat with the blood still hot and pumping. The woods were populated with deer, bear and other animals. Yes, they would eat their fill tonight; they would eat non-stop until sunrise.

Thirty minutes before the sun came up, the three warriors were back at the warehouses standing outside their cars. Their bodies were wet, but they were clean; they had all dipped themselves in a nearby stream. They were dressed in the jeans and t-shirts they carried in the trunk for times such as these. Ryodan was barefoot; he had forgotten to include footwear after the last time. None of them felt the bite of the cold winter night. All three of them were exhilarated; they had not hunted together like this in a long, long time.

Before he got into his car, Ryodan called to the other two Draghar warriors. "Zigor wants to see all of us at Chester's tonight at midnight. He has something to discuss with all of us."

"Do you know what he wants, Ry?" Angus asked.

"Yes, but I won't say. I think you all need to hear it at the same time. It concerns all of us."

Angus and Lor stared at him for a long time, then nodded. They both knew better than to persist.

"Oh, by the way, Ry. Tell Zigor I saw Darroc entering the California House on River Street with some human female late last night. That's the newest luxury high rise; it's a pretty expensive place. I think he's going native. It looked like he was in love with the woman. You know. It's funny. The girl reminded me of Bridget. She has the same color hair, but she was a lot shorter. She had green eyes too." Lor said as he got into the passenger seat beside Angus.

"Darroc!" Ryodan exploded. "What the hell is he doing here? That can't be good, but I won't see Zigor until tonight. You can tell him yourself then, Angus."

Ryodan sat in his car for a while taking deep calming breaths. The peace that he felt only moments ago was shattered at the the news Darroc was in town. The former fairy was trouble with a capital "T." If he was in Dublin, he was up to something.

Ryodan forced his mind off Darroc and thought about Leni and his upcoming wedding. In four days, on Sunday night, to be exact, he and Leni would be married in a civil ceremony at their house. Because she was so far along in her pregnancy, Leni did not want a big wedding, but Martin McDonald insisted on holding a small wedding dinner for them at his pub. The pub would be closed to the general public that night.

He and Leni had already exchanged the Druid binding vows, and he could not feel more married to her if he tried. Still, the civil ceremony was for her family and his Draghar mates. Somehow it seemed the right thing to do. He was openly declaring Leni was his and daring the others to do anything about it. He knew they would not even try. Zigor would have to give his answer to Danal that night too.

He wondered what Barrons would say to Danal on Sunday. Their leader hadn't given a hint, but then no one had seen him in almost a week. Zigor was chasing down more Fae Objects of Power. Ryodan was no longer interested in most Fae hallows, but he did want Zigor to obtain the Sinsar Dubh, and he would do anything in his power to help him.

He was beginning to believe that Danal was right, Barrons would not use the Sinsar Dubh to bring Ariel and his half human son back to life. He couldn't see Barrons being content to live in a world without the modern conveniences they had all gotten used to having around. Ariel, like Zayida and the other wives and children, would not fit in today's world, either. They all would be as out of place and as out of time as Barrons.

Barrons and hundreds of Draghar warriors had searched for the Sinsar Dubh thousands of years before Ariel, Zayida and the others were even born. Long before the Unseelie King had kidnapped Ariel, he and his first concubine had lived in the White Mansion that he had built for her. She had died by committing suicide. Some say she could no longer stand what the king had king had stolen Ariel because she reminded him of his concubine.

After his first concubine killed herself, the king repented of his evil. He created the book of magic to hold his evil half. Long before Zigor wanted the book to bring Ariel and his son back to life, he wanted the book for another reason. He had searched this world and many others for the Sinsar Dubh. The driving force behind this search was a reason that was the polar opposite of bringing back the dead.

Many humans would think that Barron's objective for the Sinsar Dubh was cruel and heartless; others would think it was the supreme act of mercy. Ryodan agreed with the latter. He and the others would not go back, even if Zigor chose to go by himself. But he and the others would never stop trying to help their leader find the book. He and the others would do whatever it took to bring peace to one of their own.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Thursday night, Chesters Nightclub

At eleven forty five, eight Draghar warriors had gathered at Chesters waiting for Jericho Barrons. Chesters. Although the one way glass floors and walls of the room made it easy to see what was going on below them, several of the men were watching the antics on security monitors placed high up near the ceiling.

The club was alive tonight; booze, sex and drugs were flowing as usual. The different mini clubs, each with their own themes, hummed, and all the dance floors were full. The Draghar males found humans endlessly entertaining in their pursuit of debauchery, and most of them were more than happy to help that pursuit along. Debauchery was a lucrative business; receipts from tonight alone would fund the average family for several years.

Ryodan, Tegan, Kasteo and Tegner sat at the long conference table talking quietly; the four knew what the meeting was about, but the others did not. Not knowing made the other men tense and the testosterone level in the room was high as it always was when the fierce fighters were together. As usual, Lor was making ribald remarks about a busty woman who was cavorting on a stripper's pole in one of the the many clubs. Fade and Angus were laughing at his jokes.

"Hey, didn't you date that one with the big boobs, Lor?" Fade asked.

"Nah. Too much plastic," Lor replied making a cupping motion with his hands over his chest. "I like em big, but natural," he leered. The four standing warriors laughed again.

Ryodan paid no mind to the banter going on as the men watched the monitors. He was remembering Kasteo and Tegner's reaction when he and Tegan had told them about the elixir of life the day after the meeting with the old Fae prince. That was almost two weeks ago, and to his knowledge, the males had not said anything to their women yet. He wondered why they were waiting, but it was their business, after all.

At the time they told them about the elixir and Danal's proffered agreement, Ryodan wasn't sure that either male truly believed them, but Tegner said he wanted to wait and see if the elixir caused any harmful side effects in Bridget and Leni, and Kasteo agreed with him. Tegan and Ryodan argued with that logic, but the two other warriors would not give in.

"Bridget and Leni were not given the choice. Danal gave it to them without their knowledge. It was wrong for him to do that. More than anything, I want Megan to take the elixir, Te. I am sure that Tegner wants Monika to take it too, but it is their choice since it will change their lives forever." Kasteo, who hadn't spoken a word in more than a thousand years, and who barely spoke three words together in the last two weeks, had just given what amounted to an oration.

Tegner looked at his friend and nodded in agreement."I do want Monika to take the elixir, but I agree with Kasteo. These women are not whores to be treated lightly; they our soul mates. We must treat them with the respect they deserve. I will let you know what she has decided by the time you have to give Danal your answer. I am sure he is going to want to meet Monika and Megan anyway. From what you have said, it appears, he is their great something or other grandfather. I trust Monika to make the right choice for herself."

The four men were talking together as Tygir, the oldest, largest and most primitive looking Draghar warrior took a seat next to Kasteo. He seemed to be more than irritated to be summoned to this meeting. For the past eighty years, more often than not, he made himself look as scary as hell when he was in human form. He rarely affected the black hair and dark eyes of the others; he saved that for those times he needed to slake his carnal lusts. Most of the time, his long hair was white blonde and his eyes were a shocking shade of pale blue that contrasted with his golden skin and black eyelashes.

At 6'7" and 280 pounds, Tygir was the oldest Draghar. He was a veritable giant of a man whose eyes seemed lit by a manic fire. Tonight, with his white hair and insane blue eyes, he was the very image of a mythic berserker. Most humans were not only viscerally terrified by him, many were actually repulsed. That was okay by him; he didn't like humans much anyway.

More than eighty years before, a woman he had begun to care for as a friend had been killed because of Zigor's rules. This woman was the first female that he had liked, but had not particularly wanted to bed. He just liked being around her. Like Kasteo a thousand years ago, Tygir had felt numb. Unlike Kasteo, Tygir began to spend most of his time away from the other Draghar. Of the nine, he spent the most time in beast form roaming planets he traveled to through his portal. He had begun to hate the needs and desires that drove this human body. This body lusted for more than sex; it needed love; it needed a mate. He had long wondered why Zigor and the others did not understand that.

He had begun to think of leaving Earth and the others permanently, but in the last year, Bridget McDonald had changed their lives with her pregnancy. Now three other human women were pregnant too. Tygir wondered if Zigor understood how deeply the other eight Draghar idolized the four human females who carried Draghar children in their wombs.

After two thousand years, these women gave hope to his fellow warriors. They had not spoken about it, but Tygir knew in his bones that none of the the Draghar warriors would allow any of these women to be harmed in any way. Each woman had eight protectors who would go to war with their leader if he ever even suggested killing them.

Jericho Zigor Barrons arrived exactly on time. Without preliminaries, he laid out Danal's proposal, including the fact that Bridget and Leni had already been given the elixir. He also made it clear that he had to let Danal know by Sunday if he agreed. He even told them that Danal claimed that all their mates would be humans who carried his Fae blood. That got an angry rise out of some of them.

"So Bridget, Leni and Serena are Danal's granddaughters. Are you telling us that Monika and Megan are also part Fae? Are you telling us that fucking fairy expects us all to mate with human/fairy half breeds? You four may not be particular who you allow in your bed, but I can guarantee it's not going to happen to me." Angus snarled at Ryodan, Tegan Kasteo and Tegner. The thought that Draghar would willingly have sex with any female who carried Fae blood was impossible for him to accept. The four men in question jumped up and started for him.

"Stop! Now!" Barrons shouted.

Angus wasn't done, he turned to Lor and said with a sneer, "You know I always thought that little blonde bitch, Serena, put a spell on you. You think you are fooling me, but you keep sniffing around her like a dog with a bone. That's an apt description, don't you think? After all, she's nothing but a Fae mongrel?" Before the words were completely out of his mouth, Angus was slammed up against the glass wall by one ferocious punch from Lor. Less than a second later, a sword appeared in Angus' hands and he went into a fighting stance.

"Serena is not my woman, but don't you dare talk about her like that! She's done nothing to you, and she doesn't deserve your scorn. Don't you ever even say her name again, or I will flay you alive." Lor snarled as his sword appeared, but Ryodan, Tegner, Kasteo and Tygir pulled the two warriors apart.

"I'm guessing that they all knew their women had Fae blood." Tygir said as he looked the other men in between Lor and Angus. "And I'm guessing that they don't give a damn. It's their business, Angus, not yours."

"I love Bridget, and I knew the minute I met her what she was. It has never made a difference to me, Angus. She carries my son; it is that simple." Tegan said. Ryodan, Kasteo and Tegner chimed in agreeing with him.

"Sit down, all of you!" Barrons ordered. "I knew that Bridget and Leni were Danal's from the beginning. Bridget's brother, Sean, looks enough like his grandfather to be his twin. Despite the spells he and Tegan cast around them, I could smell Danal's blood from a mile a way.I was aware that Monika and Megan were different, but I didn't know they too were Danal's blood, but it doesn't not matter."

"I have thought about this a lot over the last two weeks. I don't think we can discount Danal's proposal. Something has changed. I don't know what it is, but perhaps it is the Fae blood that has allowed these women to conceive your children. As I said, Danal has already given the elixir it to Bridget and Leni; it is now up to Tegner and Kasteo if they want their mates to take it." Barrons said as he nodded toward the two warriors.

He continued, "Angus, I made a mistake in forcing all of you to kill any woman who got too close. The cost of that decision has been too great, and it has been tearing us apart for a long time. I know that now. Who knows, all of you may have had families again many times over by now."

"If any one of you doesn't want to take another wife or mate now, that is your choice. Perhaps if we find the Sinsar Dubh, and if we go back, you can give the elixir to your wives. No one is going to force you to take any woman that you don't want, but remember that Danal has said he only has enough elixir for one dose per warrior. So if you do choose a mate, it must be the right one,or you will be living with that mistake for a long time."

"Is that what you are going to do, Zigor? Are you going to give the elixir to Ariel?" Angus asked curiously. He was calmer now. At last, he began to see the potential that Danal's offer had. The thought of having a mate he loved with him for thousands of years was appealing.

"No. I have decided that Ariel would not be happy in this world, nor I in hers. I don't need a soul mate. I don't want one. If it was up to me alone, I would refuse Danal's offer and kill the bloody bastard, but it affects all of you. I won't make that decision for you again, not now. I am glad that Bridget, Leni, Monika and Megan are pregnant. There is hope for us again, at least for some of us." Barrons said as he stood up and started for the door.

"Does that mean you will stop hunting for the book?" Tygir asked his leader. He was surprised by Zigor's words.

"No, Tygir. We all know that the Sinsar Dubh is the only thing that will give my son peace. I will never stop hunting it. If it takes a million years, I will do whatever it takes, pay any price to find it. I will end my son's eternal pain and torment. I have promised, and I will keep that promise." Barrons said; his face was an uncharacteristic mask of grief as he walked out. The other eight warriors were quiet. They all knew from the very fiber of their beings what caused that look, and they grieved with him. They would pay any price to help him in his quest.

Ten minutes later, Tegner drove the short distance to his lair beneath the four story building that housed his antique shop. Monika, his heart, was waiting for him in their bed, and he was eager to go to her. He would tell her tonight about the elixir. He should have told her about it before, but he wanted to see what happened with Bridget and Leni. They had planned to marry earlier this month, but due to unforeseen circumstances, they decided to wait. They had already exchanged the druid binding vows and would be officially married on December fifteenth.

He parked his car in his usual underground parking space behind the shop and within seconds he was in his underground lair. He opened a door to a small bedroom adjacent to theirs and entered. He stood for a moment and looked at the small human laying there. The glow from the fireplace told him she was awake. A six year old little girl, who was the image of her mother, looked up at him. "Are you my da?" she asked in a sleepy were the first words she had spoken to him since they brought her here.

Tegner's heart caught in his chest. "No, Melanie, but I want to be. Would you like that?" he asked. She had been with them for only three days, and he was just getting used to having her around.

"That would be all right, if you really want to be, I guess," she said in her serious childish voice. Melanie Iversson turned over and went back to sleep.

Tegner retreated to the master bedroom. He stood beside the bed and watched Monika as she slept. She snored lightly as she lay on her side facing his side of the bed hugging his pillow to her. She once told him she could smell him on the pillow, and that made her feel safe. She had been through a lot in her short life. Tegner was glad that, he of all people, made this precious woman feel secure.

He undressed quietly and slipped in beside her resting his head on one arm and studied her sleeping face. He stoked her cheek lightly as emotion welled in his heart. The feelings he had for his woman had once scared him to death; he tried his best to deny them for weeks and almost lost her because of it.

Monika whispered his name in her sleep and moved closer to him until her face was up against his chest. He could feel her warm breath tickle his skin. He was immortal; he would never die, but he never felt more alive as when he held this small human in his arms. The soft touch of a warm, wet tongue on his bare nipple sent waves of desire flooding through him like a river at high crest. He pulled the love of his life up to kiss her.

"Mr. T, you're finally home," she laughed into his mouth before she deepened the kiss. Her elation at seeing him thrilled him; it always would. The ancient warrior forgot about everything, but giving his mate pleasure and taking it in return.

Afterward, as Monika lay sleeping against him once more. Tegner thought about the day they met. He had been drawn to the petite brunette with the curious gold flecked, green eyes from the first moment he heard her voice in Barrons Books and Baubles. That was the Saturday after Tegan and Bridget had gotten married.

She was standing behind a row of book shelves on the second floor arguing with an older woman. He smelled Fae blood and would have turned away, but her words and her lovely, sexy voice intrigued him. She had an Irish accent, but it was mixed with something else. Whatever it was, her voice was compelling.

"Leave me alone, Rowena. Get it through your evil head; I will never go back to the monastery, never, "she said emphatically.

Tegner did not have to see who the woman was talking to. Rowena O'Reilly was known to all Draghar. The Grand Mistress of the abbey that housed hundreds of sidhe seers was hated by all of them. He considered her an evil old woman consumed with her greed for power. She and her sidhe seers often interfered with the Draghar and their search for the Sinsar Dubh and other Fae hallows. For that alone, she was loathed.

"I don't care what you do, you traitor, but I want my granddaughter back. My son wants his daughter back too. We love her. If we have to, we will take legal measures against you, Monika Iversson." The older woman threatened in a very unpleasant voice.

"Your son wants his daughter? You want your granddaughter? You both love her? That's rich, Rowena, even for the likes of you. Neither of you know the meaning of the word "love." Your son raped me so you could keep the position of Grand Mistress in O'Reilly hands long after you are dead and gone. You want to use my little girl to get what you want. Do you think I will ever let you do to my daughter what you did to me? By the way, someday Kevin will figure out that you don't really love him either; you are only using him to get what you want. Then what will you do, bitch?"

"Kevin did not rape you. No force was used, Monika; I know that; I was there. You spread your legs for him him willingly; you are nothing but a slut."

"I never willing had sex with Kevin. By the time he raped me, any feeling I had for him was long gone. You drugged me that night; there was no consent. After I drank the tea you gave me, I blacked out. I kept waking up to find him on top of me. I tried to tell him to get off of me, but I couldn't say a word. I saw you there in the room watching us. What kind of a monster are you?"

"I was a virgin when your son raped me, Rowena. I am disgusted to think that at one time, I actually believed I loved Kevin. I probably would have slept with him on my own, but I found him in the wine cellar with Demaris and her sister, Dina. He was having sex with both of them. I told him that day I would never let him touch me. So he took from me what he had no right to take, and you helped him. He confirmed you were in the room later after he found out I was pregnant with his child. What drug did you use?"

"Lies, all lies. But no matter. We want Melanie; yes, we know what you named her. You took her from us long before she was born. It has taken us seven long years and four countries, but we finally tracked you down. If you don't give her to us, I will kill you, but I will kill your mother first. Everyone knows what a drunkard she is. Drunks have "accidents" all the time, Monika. Remember that."

"I have been living under your nose for the last two years, Rowena. The goons you had searching for me aren't very good. For ten long years, the threat that you would hurt my mother kept me from running away from the monastery, but it won't work with me anymore. My mother could not face raising me alone after my father died, and she thought she could turn to you. You are her cousin after all. When you told her I could stay at the monastery, but that she had to leave, I think you broke her heart. She was already having trouble coping with my father's death, and she died a little more inside after you threw her out. I think that is what drove her to drinking."

"She left me to your tender mercies, and for ten years I endured your beatings, your verbal abuse and the starvation. You wanted all of us to follow you blindly without question. You said we must all bear children with men you picked for us because it was our duty to the order. The truth is, you really wanted to control the sidhe seer bloodlines. You wanted us to hate anything Fae without reason, merely because you said we must. The others may be sheep, but I rebelled against you and your cruelties, and I paid a the price for it. You though you could beat me into submission, but you couldn't. Finally you let your son rape me, but I managed to escape."

"For a long time, I hated my mother for leaving me with you, but after Melanie was born, I realized mama was only a weak person who did not know what to do. You used that weakness against her. I don't hate her for what she did anymore, but I will not sacrifice my daughter for her."

"I found all of your notes about what you were doing with your attempts at genetic breeding. All the the matings you planned for the women at the monastery were laid out in great detail Each sidhe seer was to be mated with a man who had a sidhe seer mother, and of course, the men would pay you handsomely for the privilege. You treated us like brood mares to be genetically bred to your hand picked stallions in order to enhance our sidhe seer gifts. With your gift of coercion and my gift of illusion, you thought Melanie was going to be your crowning glory; the epitomy of your work. You thought Melanie would inherit both abilities, and be the most powerful sidhe seer ever, and of course she would have been raised to think you loved her and to do your bidding."

"You though eventually she would be Grand Mistress, and the position would stay in the O'Reilly family, but I escaped and I ruined your plans. I am not a brood mare, and my daughter is not a piece of clay for you to mold into your image, you evil bitch. Melanie is safe from you. She is where you will never find her. Even if you could kill me, which I doubt, I will never tell you where she is."

In a eery voice, Rowena said, "Monika Iversson, you will tell me where Melanie is now. Do you understand?" She began to chant in a low, but commanding voice.

The younger woman only laughed. "Your coercion doesn't work on me; it never did. Have you forgotten that? I knew I would have to confront you one day, so I have been busy since I left the monastery. I have developed other "gifts" that you know nothing about; strong gifts. In addition to visual illusion, I can actually make you feel what you see. I have studied magic with real witches, Rowena. They were all women who would you make you look like a neophyte."

"So, burn, Rowena, burn." Monika chanted softly in the ancient language. A golden aura pulsated around her body as Tegner rounded the end of the book case. He could feel the power and the buzz of electricity emanating from the small human woman. He was drawn to it; he was sexually aroused by it.

A sharp scream sounded, "Oh, God! I'm burning. I'm burning. Make it stop, Monika, please." Rowena yelled. Tegner watched as the older white haired woman began to frantically slap at her arms and body as if to put out flames. There were no flames, but she was clearly in agony, and she was terrified. Monika's chanting grew louder. Tegner immediately recognized her words as a druid spell.

"I curse you, Rowena O'Reilly for all the days of your life. Leave now, and the pain will stop. Stay, and you will die. Don't ever come near me, my daughter, or my mother again, do you understand? If you ever threaten me or mine again, you will die in torment, but first your body will burn with invisible fire for every second that is left of your miserable life. You will beg for mercy. There will be none." Monika said in voice as calm as if she were discussing the weather.

Her hands were held out in front of her with the palms open and turned toward the older woman. Lightning flashed from her palms into Rowena;s chest, and the other woman staggered back against the wall. An invisible wind whipped Monika's raven hair behind her. Her eyes glowed fiercely. She was small woman, but in that moment, she was fearless. She looked like a Valkyrie, or an avenging angel.

Rowena choked as she stumbled toward the stairway. Tegner felt no pity for the old woman; her greed for power was well known among the Draghar. He stared at the younger woman as she watched the older one leave. He was a Draghar, and he understood the power of magic spells. He and the others used them frequently themselves. The little human, Monika, had used a mighty magic spell effectively against the woman alleged to be the most powerful sidhe seer in the world. He was awed by what he had just seen.

He stared at the brunette longer and was shocked at how ordinary she looked. Monika was a rather small, unprepossessing human female of about five foot one or two. She was pretty with the creamy pale complexion many Irish girls have. She had short, wavy black hair, green Irish eyes flecked with gold, and a full mouth that looked like it laughed a lot. Her hair was pushed back from her face behind her ears and held in place by a simple green head band. Her eyes showed anger, determination and a touch of fear. He guessed that she was in her mid twenties. She was so focused on Rowena's fleeing back that she did not realize she had an audience.

It was quite warm that day, and she was dressed accordingly in a green short sleeved top with printed trimming that matched the trim on her camel colored shorts. The shorts were not tight and they decently ended at mid thigh, but they also emphasized slim thighs, shapely calves and trim ankles. Her small feet were clad in open toed flat tan sandals. He noted her toenails were trimmed and polished in a natural pink shade that matched the color on her short, but well manicured fingernails.

"Do you need help, miss?" Tegner asked when he found his voice. He wanted to know more about the woman who could scare off the powerful abbess of the sidhe seers.

"No. This matter doesn't concern you, mister. Please, just leave me be." Monika grated out as she started for the stairway. She was carrying some paperback books and some sort of game in her hands. The way she cut him off as if he was of no consequence angered the ancient Draghar warrior. He turned and found the book on antique forgeries he was looking for and started down the stairs himself.

When Tegner walked out of the bookstore, the young woman was about a block ahead of him walking in the same direction as his antique store. He was surprised as he followed her the few blocks to his shop. She passed by the entrance to his shop and entered the door of the building next door using a key. Tegner owned all three buildings on this short block and the three in back of them as well.

He stood on the street in front of his store until he heard a window open on the top floor of building the woman entered. Tegner looked up and saw her at the window. She leaned out and watered the flowers in the window boxes. He had to step aside as some of the water dripped down to the sidewalk. Monika looked down at him and turned quickly away.

He was unpleasantly surprised to find out that the magical brunette lived in the small apartment on the top floor of the building next door. The buildings on this block were all four stories tall; the ones in back were three story apartment houses. On his street, the first floors of all the buildings were rented for commercial use. The other floors mostly consisted of rental apartments.

Tegner's building was an exception. He used the apartment on the top of his building for trysts with his human lovers since he never allowed a female into his private underground lair. That act was not only dangerous; it was against the rules. He converted the second and third floor of his antique store into extra storage space to hold inventory. In the five years that he had owned these buildings, he had thought all the apartments were rented to yuppies or other professional couples only. He didn't like renting to single women; he thought they were trouble.

Once in his office, Tegner made a call to his rental agent. It turned out that the the small, one bedroom apartment that shared the roof top of that building was indeed rented six months ago to one Monika Iversson. The prior tenant had left the place in a dreadful state. The building was old, and the apartment needed new appliances, new carpeting and fixtures, plumbing work and a paint job, and she was willing to wait. She had come well recommended by a friend. She was quiet, got along with the other tenants, and most importantly, she paid her rent on time. She offered to paint the place herself, but she was still waiting for the new carpeting, and appliances and the plumbing to be fixed in the bathroom.

For several days Tegner investigated the woman, but she was a mystery. Draghar warriors did not like mysteries. It seemed Monika Iversson appeared out of nowhere about seven years ago; he guessed that was the time she left the monastery. She worked as a secretary in a law firm and was taking classes to become a paralegal.

She had a good credit rating, drove a small used car, paid her bills on time and never had a problem with the law. Still he did not want her in his apartment. Since she was raised at the monastery, he realized she was a sidhe seer of great power, and that was trouble with a capital "T." Besides, the more he thought about her, the more he was attracted to her.

On Wednesday, he paid her a visit after she got home from work and told her to vacate the apartment. She had offered him a drink and invited him outside to the round patio table outside her kitchen door. Monika practically laughed in his face when he told her to get out. She went inside for a moment, came back out and waived a copy of a two year lease in front of him. He grabbed it and tore it to shreds. "Won't do you any good," she taunted. "The original is in my safety deposit box."

"I don't rent to single women, and I have plans for this apartment, Miss Iversson. You just have to leave. I will give you thirty days to get out," he told her firmly. He had a scornful sneer on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest;he was confident she would capitulate

"Let me get this straight: just because I am single and a woman, you think you can discriminate against me? Well, for your information, that's against the law. I don't care what your plans are, Mr. Tegan, but this lease is solid. I had a member of the law firm I work at look at it before I signed it. I have done nothing to breach the terms of the contract, and I am not leaving. If you try to force me out, I will see you in court. But since you are here anyway, I should tell you that if you don't get the new appliances, the carpeting and the plumbing fixed as stated in this lease by the end of the next week, I will take you to court anyway," she went on the offensive in a calm cool voice, but her green eyes shot flames of anger at him.

They argued more for a half an hour. He loomed over her; he scowled; he yelled; he tried to intimidate her; he tried to back her up against the wall, but she wouldn't budge, and that made him furious: humans simply did not defy him. Most humans would have been terrified by his sheer size alone. They would have quaked at his anger, but not her. Oh, no; this little witch did not cower before him. She did not blink an eye; she held her ground. Tegan did not need the attention that a discrimination lawsuit would bring to him or the Draghar, and she sensed it. She was like a shark smelling blood in the water.

"Fine, you can stay! I will be here tomorrow to fix the plumbing, but if you give me even a hair of a reason, I will toss you out on your ass so fast your head will spin, Miss Iversson. You can count on it," he raged. He wasn't used to humans getting the better of him.

Tegner was mumbling to himself in frustration as he stalked across the roof top and swung himself up over the six foot privacy fence that separated his roof from hers. He could not believe this tiny woman had just threatened him. She really had a brass pair of balls. He knew he wasn't going to get her out, so he did the next best thing; he spied on her from his rooftop next door,just to catch her in any infraction of the lease. At least, that is what he told himself.

With his Draghar senses he could hear almost everything she said, even inside the apartment. He saw a lot of her too since her apartment faced the back, and she rarely lowered her window shades. He didn't need light to see her when she was home. She spent a lot of time out on the rooftop. He was quiet, she never even know he was lounging, watching and listening nearby.

The next day when he appeared carrying his toolbox and plumbing tools. "New carpeting, refrigerator and stove will arrive tomorrow, and I will pay you for the paint you bought," he growled. Taking his tool kit into the bathroom, he fixed the leaky pipes and installed a new shower head and new faucets. She didn't even have the grace to offer him a glass of water or a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Mr. T. You and I are going to get along just fine," she said smugly. He fumed; she had the temerity to taunt him when he walked out her apartment door. He was so angry, he could have chewed nails. For three weeks, he watched and listened to Monika Iversson as she went about her daily activities.

She often didn't go to bed until one or two, and she baked a lot, although for whom, he didn't know. He loved to hear her as she moved around the kitchen which he could clearly see from his vantage point. Besides the wonderful smells, she usually hummed as she worked. The bathroom was off the small kitchen; he wasn't above watching her as she showered and got ready for bed. He liked what he saw; he liked it a lot. Soon he began to compare every woman he dated to the small brunette.

The woman was graceful and determined as she went about her daily life in the apartment. He liked seeing her simple routine, but he definitely did not like it when her boyfriend came over. Robbie came over at least once a week and they ended up in bed. He took her out at least once on the weekends, and they ended up in bed when they returned.

Tegner was not the type to watch or listen others having sex, but he could not stop himself with Monika and her boyfriend, Robbie Carson. Her bedroom window was less than fifteen feet away from where he sat most nights on the rooftop next door. Monika was so beautiful, and the sounds of her passion drove him crazy. He began to imagine that he was there with her, instead of Robbie. He began to imagine he was the one making her cry out.

Tegner was so jealous of the young, handsome, much smaller male, that he wanted to rip his heart out. He wanted to stop listening to them, but he couldn't. He was physically relieved when they quarreled and she broke it off with him three weeks later.

Tegner knew Robbie Carson was a womanizer who did not deserve a girl like Monika Iversson. After he left her apartment, Robbie spent almost every night in Chesters with various females. He spent most of his time drinking, dancing and groping the women. Tegner decided that Robbie wasn't good enough for Monika; and he decided to do something about it. He mailed a package containing several candid photographs of Robbie and his other women, but before it arrived, Monika apparently caught him cheating on her one evening.

"Get out, you lousy two timing bastard. Don't come back, ever," she screamed at him one Friday night. She spent the rest of the night crying.

By the end of June, Monika Iversson was working for "Tegner's Antiques" cataloging inventory in the computer, keeping the books and doing general secretarial work. She had been laid off at the law firm after scurrilous complaints were anonymously emailed to her bosses. She was given no chance to respond. The complaints were baseless; she eventually found out they had been made by Rowena O'Reilly.

Monika was down in the dumps after several fruitless interviews when she saw the "Help Wanted" poster on the window of the antique shop. Tegner's assistant of many years had quit a two weeks before to get married, and his office, books and inventory listing were in a mess. He couldn't find anything by the time he advertized for help. Monika went inside and applied for the position. Tegner was shocked that she had the guts to apply for a job with him after he told her to leave. He hemmed and hawed when he interviewed her, he tried to make the work seem like drudgery and very unpleasant.

"I get deliveries at all times of the day and night, and I expect you to be here when ever I need you, Miss Iversson. Since you live right next door, that shouldn't be a problem, should it?" He intoned as he tried to discourage her, but she was determined. He ended up hiring her and paying her fifty pounds more a week than she earned at the law firm. He soon found out that she was worth every penny. She had his messy office, his inventory and his books straightened out in no time, and he found out that he really liked having her around.

It took him six weeks to get her to go out with him, and another two weeks to get her into his bed. Sex with her was incredible; he could not believe how good it felt to make love to her. By the middle of August, he knew he was in over his head. He was terrified of how deeply he cared for her. He knew he had fallen in love with her, and she had fallen in love with him. The loss of control he felt whenever she was around scared him. He had never felt that way with a woman before; he didn't like it, and he didn't want to feel that way now. One Friday night, he told her he wanted to see other women.

"I am not the type to commit to one woman, Monika. I told you that in the beginning. Perhaps it's better if we give each other some space for a while," he said.

"If that's what you want, Mr. T," she said quietly with her back to him. He knew she was hurt, and his heart started to melt. He replied coolly instead. "That's what I want. It's for the best. You will see."

Monika knew he was giving her the brush off; but she refused to make a scene. She acted as if he didn't matter to her at all. She was polite and even cordial in her dealings with him over the next few days. Her unflappable coolness ticked him off; he wanted her to care so he made sure that she heard him talking on the phone to other women during the day.

He brought a different woman home every night and made sure that Monika heard them having sex in the apartment next door. She kept their relationship professional and civilized. Less than a week later, she quit. He missed her sounds and her scent. He missed not seeing her when he went into his office. He was lost without her.

In early September, Tegner saw Monika sitting two booths away at Marty's Pub. She was with another man, and he was with with some bimbo whose name he couldn't remember. He could not have imagined the pain he felt as he watched her talk, laugh and dance with her date. But as Monika and the other man walked passed him on their way back to their table, a wonderful aroma filled his senses. Suddenly, the ancient warrior was happy. He sent his own date home in a taxicab and went home himself.

At seven o'clock the next morning, Tegner knocked on Monika's apartment door. She answered the door in her pajamas. She was holding a paper strip in her hand with a blue cross showing quite clearly on one end. Monika looked stunned and afraid.

She held her breath for a second, then burst out, "I'm pregnant, see." She held out the pregnancy test strip. He stepped inside, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Monika leaned into him and heaved hard, dry sobs.

"I know you're pregnant. You're carrying my baby. I smelled it last night. I love you, Monika. I've been such a fool. Can you forgive me?" he said softly.

"You are a total fool, Mr. T, but I must be one as well, because I love you too. Please don't ever leave me like that again."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

4 am. Saturday morning

"Ryodan!" The scream of warning tore out of Leni's mouth and echoed in their darkened bedchamber. She almost somersaulted from a prone position to a half kneeling one. Another scream filled the air before Leni came half awake. Wildly casting her arms about, she automatically searched for Ryodan before she realized he was not home from work yet.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around the room and sucked in a gasp as the flickering flames in the tall fieldstone fireplace cast eerie shadows that looked like the shades from her nightmares flowing stealthily across the floor. Fear and dread, so strong that it paralyzed her for a moment, overwhelmed her small frame. Her whole body began shake. For long agonizing seconds, Leni fought for control of her emotions until she realized was safe; she had suffered another vivid nightmare. That was all it was.

She had been dreaming once more of Ryodan's bloodied and mutilated body falling from the cliff again. This time, Mac and Barrons were not there. This time, she was physically standing and watching as he fell to his death, smashed against the rocks below. This time, she was surrounded by Unseelie shades as came for her and her unborn son. The shadows pulsed with menace as they formed an opaque black cocoon around her, blotting out the sky and sun on the strange planet.

There were hundreds of the things in all shapes and sizes, but they all one thing in common: Moira Harkness' face. They seemed to think with a communal mind. Leni felt nauseous as she felt that mind; it was evil and malevolent. It wanted Leni and her unborn son dead, and it wanted her to know that. It wanted her to feel hopeless, helpless and alone. That made Leni angry; she was determined not to give in to them.

This particular nightmare recurred over the past several nights. She didn't know what was worse: watching Ryodan die, or the pain she felt as the shadows sucked the life force out of her body killing her and their son. The Moira faces always grinned with delighted malevolence as they consumed her and Ian.

"Ryodan's dead. If I can't have him, no one can." A female voice laughed inside her head. The words were repeated over and over. They were spoken by Ryodan's beautiful former mistress in a voice that made Leni's skin crawl.

Ian kicked in panic inside her stomach; she could feel the terror in her son's mind For a moment, she wondered if Ian knew about her nightmare, or if he was merely reacting to her fear and anxiety. It didn't matter, Ian's distress blazed brightly in her head. She made a conscious effort to think calm, soothing thoughts. She wished Ryodan was with her. He would soothe their son with his rumbling purr like he always did.

"It's okay, Mighty Thor. Mama's here, and we are safe. It was only a bad dream," she crooned as she infused her fingers with warm, healing power and stroked her belly. After a moment, she could feel Ian's little hand reach out to her much larger one. He sought her comfort. Finally, his mind began to quiet.

Leni knew the nightmare was illogical, and she tried to analyze the root of her fears. Ryodan had explained to her that the Draghar couldn't die. Well, really that wasn't true; they could die, but they didn't stay dead. They came back to life by the next morning. She believed him; she really did. He wouldn't lie about something like that, and if she could accept that Fae were immortal, she could accept Ryodan was too. Still her heart and her emotions overwhelmed her; the nightmare of watching Ryodan die always left her shaken and terrified.

She knew that she was nearly immortal because she had drank the elixir of life. Danal, her grandfather, would not lie about that either. As long as her son was in side of her, she was pretty sure that he couldn't die. Her grandfather wasn't totally sure if the elixir of life would grant Ian the same limited immortality it gave his mother. To the prince's knowledge, it had never been given to a pregnant, mostly human woman before. Still with his combination of unique Draghar, human and Fae genes, Leni was sure that the elixir would do the same for Ian as it did for her.

It wasn't even likely that the Unseelie shades could attack her. Both her Fae and Draghar protection cuffs would automatically prevent them from getting to her long enough to summon Ryodan. He would save them both while killing the Unseelie. Why then, did she have the ominous feeling that something terrible was going to happen soon? Ian felt it too; she was sure of it. Her son had been anxious and restless for more than a week now, and it was getting harder to keep him calm. Bridget had told her that her son Patrick was also anxious and restless, as if he too, were expecting something to happen.

She reached for the remote on the nightstand and turned on the television. She began to flick through the channels trying to find something to occupy her mind. "God bless satellite TV," she thought as she found some old Fifties American movie. It was a silly romantic comedy with Katherine Hepburn and Spenser Tracy. Their antics and banter made her laugh; her laughter made Ian relax even more. Leni soon realized her baby was asleep.

Ryodan found her propped up against the bed pillows half asleep at 5:30 when he entered their bedroom. She smiled drowsily at him then followed him into the bathroom as he prepared for bed. She slipped off her pajamas and stepped into the huge shower stall behind him. He sensed that nightmares had awoken her once again, and turned to embrace her as they stood under the stream of warm water from the shower heads on three of the shower walls. "Are you okay, muirnin?" he asked gently, looking down into the face he loved so much.

Leni nodded. "I just missed you tonight. I wanted to wait up and make love to you. That's all," she stated quietly. Ryodan instinctively knew that Leni needed more than a physical joining; it was not sex she craved. Her nightmares made her need him deep inside her as an affirmation of his eternal life.

He kissed her lightly and ran his hands slowly down her milky white skin to cup, then squeeze the globes of her butt. Frissons of sweet pleasure and anticipation rolled through him. He sighed and closed his eyes feeling the pull of his heart. Leni was almost seven months pregnant and still the sexiest woman he had ever seen. He had hardened with want the moment she started following him into the bathroom.

Gently pulling her with him as he stepped backward, he sat on the long marble bench in shower. Lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist, he sat down and positioned her facing him on top of his lap. She was panting now, deep in the throes of her need for him. He could smell her arousal; she needed no preliminaries; after one long searing kiss, she was hot and wet when he slipped inside her.

Closing his eyes again, Ryodan savored the feel of Leni's hot, damp warmth as folds of her silky channel surrounded him and began to pulsate and squeeze. He grunted harshly and began to move, rocking his pelvis up and around making sure to keep contact on the sensitive nub of her clit.

Leni moaned low little animal noises in her throat as she undulated and thrust herself down along his hot hard length. She was totally out of herself now and flying free as she bit down on his shoulder. Her ragged breath scorched his skin even as her body tensed tightly around him and began to quake with the full force of her first orgasm. Her hot, sweet juice bathed his shaft with exquisite sensations.

"Oh, God, woman. Do you have any idea of what you do to me? This never gets old; it just gets better and better," he panted with her. Her glowing violet eyes smiled up at him. Her face was filled with so much happiness and love that it made his heart stutter wildly in his chest.

A wave of love for her swamped him, and she smiled again. Of course, she knew exactly how he felt, just as he knew exactly how she felt. Their soulmate bond opened their minds to each other so deeply, and so intimately, they knew what the other knew; felt what the other felt. He absently wondered how he had ever survived this long without her.

A hot seemingly endless wave of of pleasure flooded his mind and body as her soft hands roamed his flesh. Her warm, wonderful tongue plunged deep inside his mouth then abandoned it to trail kisses down his throat to his chest. As she nipped then suckled lightly first at one erect male nipple, and then the other, she brought him to new heights of ecstasy.

"I love you so much, Leni," he groaned as lifted her head and pushed her back a little to gain better access to her. He bent his head to suckle her right nipple. He knew her pregnancy made her breasts even more sensitive than usual, and he took advantage of that. He never stopped his rhythmic movements inside her as he took the turgid pink bud in his mouth and laved the swollen flesh with a moist tongue. Leni bucked and screamed in mindless wonder as pleasure inundated her nerve endings and flooded her senses from multiple directions the same time.

"I'm coming apart. Oh God, Ryodan. I'm coming apart," she cried.

"Don't worry; I'll catch you. Come for me, love. That's my sweet girl. Come for me." The words were harsh and strained, but Ryodan managed to get them out as he increased the pace of his strokes. Leni kept up with him until her body was once more on the edge of the precipice and ready to go over. Both of their bodies were glistening with sweat. Their breath steamed the air. She licked the salt from his face, throat and chest, reveling in the smell and the taste of him.

Ryodan could feel his own climax building, but he didn't want to come until he gave her one more final release. He slowed his strokes until Leni thought she would go mad. Grunting as he tightened to hold back his release, he wrapped her arms around his neck once more and told her to hang on tight. He leaned her backward, cupped the weight of her breasts in both hands and kneaded them gently. He could feel the jolts of pleasure speeding lightning fast from her breasts to her womb as he bent once more, captured the other swolled bud and increased the suction of his mouth. He nipped lightly at the creamy, silken skin under the aureole. It felt so good to her; he knew it did. He was elated knowing how much pleasure she received from his touch.

He could not hold back any longer, he placed his arms around her back, reared back and began to pump ferociously up and into her. The feeling of him moving inside her; pleasuring her, was so intense that Leni soared headlong into a shattering climax taking him with her. She cried out his name and her love for him. He kept moving deeper and deeper inside her roaring her name as he spasmed his hot seed in bursts inside her channel. He felt totally connected to her with his flesh, his heart and his mind.

The sound of her sweet voice as she cried out his name with abandon, urging him on, only intensified what he felt. So much so that ecstacy roared through him like a freight train, bringing a second orgasm so strong and so close to the first it was like one endless wave. When they finally collapsed together, he could see tears in Leni's deep violet eyes; his own eyes felt damp too.

"I love you so much, Ryodan. I would want to die, if anything ever happened to you," she said weakly.

"I'm not going anywhere, Love. Nothing is going to happen to me,"he crooned softly to her.

As he held Leni's trembling body against him, not for the first time, Ryodan gave thanks for this human body and the physical senses and delicate emotions that came with it. In his long lifetime, he had shifted into beings whose emotions were violent, unspeakable things and whose primal passions ran deeper than an erupting volcano. However, no other race he had ever encountered, no other form he had ever shifted into, made him feel like he did now. He had known the happiness and the sweetness of human love with his first wife, Zayida, but only Leni made him feel all that, plus more. Leni made him feel sheer joy.

Later, Ryodan washed Leni, toweled her off, wrapped her up in his big terry cloth robe and carried her to the bed. As she lay replete in his arms, Leni confirmed the nightmare he suspected. "I can't help thinking that something bad in going to happen soon. I know I can't die, but I keep getting this creepy feeling. I wish you had found Moira," she said.

"Everything will be fine; I will make sure of it. Just stay close to your body guards, Leni. By the way, what do you have planned for your last day as a single woman?" Ryodan teased.

He had not told her about finding Moira's "alleged" body, because he did not want to worry her. But he had doubled her body guards since the morning he found the gruesome scene in the warehouse. If Moira could kill three people like that, there was no telling what she would try to do to Leni and their son, even if she couldn't succeed. That was something, Ryodan could not allow.

"Monika has asked Bridget, Sean, Serena, Megan and myself to lunch at one o'clock. We're going to that new pizzeria, Rocco's, over near University College. It used to be an old MacDonald's restaurant. She says she wants to get to know her younger cousins better, and I would like to get to know her better too. Monika has spent some time with Megan, but not much with Bridget, Sean or me; I think it's time. Besides, she has someone she wants us to meet. She sounded really excited. Do you know who it is?" Leni asked Ryodan.

"No, not a clue. Now get some sleep, sweetheart. You and Ian both need it." Ryodan said as curled around her backside, put one hand possessively on her pregnant stomach and cradled his head with his other arm. He closed his eyes and let himself drift into that peaceful state of meditation that served as sleep for the Draghar warriors. Leni snuggled close and soon fell into a restful sleep. She dreamed, but this time the dreams were pleasant and filled with love.

Leni reached the pizzeria five minutes early, but the others were already inside sitting at a large table in the center of the room. Her two body guards followed her inside and joined Bridget's. Monika had a bodyguard with her too. Leni invited them all to sit with them, but they refused, taking a booth a few seats down where they could watch the cousins and the door.

Leni looked around at the place. It wasn't fancy, but each table was full. The large main room had been dramatically changed; the serving counter had been replaced with a longer one with stools. The fryers had been replaced with ovens. The sinks and dishwasher strategically relocated. The plastic booths and tables were replaced with tables covered with bright red and white checked table cloths. A flower vase with a small posy was placed in the center of each table and prints with scenes it Italy covered the walls. The restaurant no longer looked like a fast food joint; it looked like a charming Italian cafe.

The place had a homey atmosphere, plus the new owners had kept the child's play room in front and several kids were inside playing on the slides and other toys. Their cheerful laughter made Leni feel happy and relaxed. The new cafe was building up quite a custom; several patrons were sitting at a small sofa near the door, waiting to be seated as Leni walked passed them to sit at the empty chair at her cousins' table. Leni took note of a small dark haired girl of about six or seven was sitting next to Monika.

"Good. Everyone's here. Leni, I would like you to meet my daughter, Melanie Iversson. She's six and a half years old. Mellie, these people are your cousins. They are going to love you, just like I do, just like Tegner does. Say hi to everyone, baby." Monika said as Leni joined the table. She proudly hugged the delicate little girl who sat next to her. For a few moments, everyone, except Megan, was shocked; they did not know Monika had a child.

The child was a miniature of her beautiful mother in every way, but she was painfully shy. She hid her face in Monika's side, and didn't want to say hi. That didn't last long, however; within minutes, Sean had charmed Mellie into sitting on his lap. She was laughing at his jokes.

Megan McCormack looked wistfully at the little girl. She had lost her own son, Johnny, at the age of two. God, how she had missed him and his father, John Sr. until Kasteo came into her life. Kasteo, the strange silent alien, had made her feel wonderfully human again. She had been numb with grief until Kasteo with his quiet ways and all encompassing love made her feel alive. She never thought such a big man could be so gentle, but he was.

Megan thought Kasteo was a gift from God, and so was the child whom she carried in her womb now. Kasteo's baby. Boy or girl, she loved it, and she loved Kasteo. She had been given a second chance at love, and she was going to grab at it with both hands.

Kasteo had told her this morning about the elixir. "Don't decide now," he had said. "Wait until you are sure." Megan was sure. She would tell him tonight that she had made her choice. She would take the elixir. She wanted to be his mate forever.

"You're pretty, just like mam said." Mellie exclaimed with a soft Scottish burr as she turned and touched Sean's face with her small fingers. She was fascinated by her tall, handsome part Fae cousin. She laughed as he dipped a battered stick of mozzarella into sauce and pulled the stringy cheese into wide loops before he ate it.

"You know. I always wanted a pretty little girl just like you for a cousin," he told her as he tweaked her nose and winked his gold flecked copper eye at her. She laughed delightedly at that; it seemed to cut the ice for her, and she opened up a little. Leni, Bridget and Sean could sense their grandfather's Fae blood in the little girl. There was no doubt that she was family. Leni looked at Bridget, and the two of them laughed too.

"All the girls think he's pretty, honey." Bridget smiled as she punched her brother lightly on the arm. As he came into his Fae heritage, Sean could easily charm any woman he met, young, old, beautiful or plain. Melanie seemed to adore him. She shyly smiled at her female cousins and talked to them, but it was Sean, she felt the most comfortable with. She wanted to sit on his lap, and that was okay with him. Sean looked at Monika and gave her a wink. Monika visibly relaxed. She had not realized how nervous she had been.

"I'm going to be Mam's Maid of..., Maid of... when she gets married." Melanie proudly stated to the table. "Tegner wants to be my Da. I never had a Da before. Isn't that nice?" The child's excited voice showed her joy and being included in such an important ceremony.

"Maid of Honor, Muirnin. You will be my Maid of Honor. Tegner will be proud to be your Daddy, if you want him to be." Monika said softly. She had tears in her eyes. Leni knew they were tears of happiness.

After they ate, Melanie joined a group of kids on the slide as the cousins watched her through the glass wall. They knew that Monika had been raised in the monastery a couple of hours outside of Dublin that was home to hundreds of sidhe seers. They knew she had trouble with the woman who ran the place and ran away, but they had no idea that she had a daughter of her own.

Monika talked of her early desperate and desolate years at the monastery. Megan knew her story, but the others did not. She described how her cousin, Rowena, the Grand Mistress, had loathed her because she defied her. She described Rowena's plans to mate certain sidhe seers to men that she had specifically selected to enhance the sidhe seer gifts. If a pregnancy resulted, any girl babies were raised at the monastery. Males were left with their father's family to raise.

Sometimes, Rowena actually let a sidhe seer legally marry a man she had specially chosen for his genetic background. The males had to be sons or grandsons of sidhe seers. Usually this was a woman whose sidhe seer gifts were not particularly strong. In addition to monetary compensation from the man, they both had to agree in writing to give any girl child who inherited the ability to see the Fae to Rowena to raise at the abbey by the time the child was six.

Monika shook with anger when she described how the old woman had drugged her so that Kevin O'Reilly could rape her and get her pregnant. Monika was twenty and a virgin when that happened. Kevin was Rowena's son,and actually lived at the monastery until he was sent to live with his father at age five. Rowena always kept in touch with her son; she didn't love him, but she had big plans for him.

Monika had escaped from the monastery when she was almost five months pregnant with Melanie. She had no real plans when she ran away other than to try and find her mother, but she had no idea where her mother was, or, even if she was still alive. She did not know where she lived, but she had gotten her last known address from Rowena's files.

She had scraped together a few hundred pounds that she managed to save from tips she received while working as a messenger for Post Haste, the international delivery service run by Rowena and the sidhe seers. She wasn't paid for her labor. She was expected to hand over any tips she made to the Grand Mistress, but she was able to hide a small amount for herself.

On the night she had escaped, Monika had been given a such severe beating by Rowena that she thought she would miscarry. She had committed some infraction of the rules, or another. It didn't take much for Rowena to beat her. Even Monika's light telepathic abilities told her that Rowena was planning to get rid of her as soon as her daughter was born.

She was recuperating in the infirmary when Rowena had called the other sidhe seers together for a meeting. Monika had no idea what the meeting was about. Left alone without Rowena's usual toadies to guard her, she had seen a once in a lifetime chance to save herself and her daughter. Rowena had plans for Monika's child. Just like most women at the monastery, her daughter would be a brood mare popping out babies sired by men selected by the the old witch. Monika vowed to die before she let that happen.

She grabbed a small parcel of clothing, some biscuits and her money and slipped out through the fields that surrounded the huge building. She had been on the road for hours when a young Scots couple on holiday had picked her up as she was hitchhiking near Dun Laoghaire. They were on their honeymoon and visiting relatives in Ireland.

The bride, Sheila MacCloud, was twenty two and looked enough like her to be a sister, took a liking to Monika. Donald MacCloud, a tall blonde, was a twenty five year old school teacher. He liked anything and anyone his young wife, who was a third cousin, liked. After riding with them for two days, they asked her to return to Scotland with them.

Monika teased them about having the same last name. "That's convenient. You didn't even have to change your name on your driver's license."

"Half of the people in our village are named MacCloud; we are all related, even if only distantly. You look a lot like Sheila yourself. You could pass as a cousin for sure. Maybe that's why we like you so much, lass. We MacClouds are big on family." Donald teased back.

For almost three years, Monika worked as a maid in the MacCloud family's B and B in a small fishing village on the eastern cost of Scotland. Sheila's mother, Brianna, was a widow. She ran the B and B with her husband, Mike. Her aunt, Hannah, and her great grandmother, Dinah, who had survived all five of her children, lived with Brianna and Mike in a house next to the B and B. Monika and her baby lived with Sheila and Donald less than a half of a mile away.

The MacClouds introduced her as a cousin from Ireland. For the three years that she stayed in Scotland, she was known as Monika MacCloud. She liked the friendly villagers and fit in well. They didn't even blink to find out she was pregnant and unmarried. As far as they were concerned, Monika MacCloud was one of them.

Mike MacCloud, Sheila's dad, was a warm, caring man of about fifty, but Monika loved the MacCloud women most. She liked their warm earthiness. They were unpretentious women, who said what they meant, and meant what they said. They were the salt of the earth as Aunt Hannah often said. Dinah MacCloud, the matriarch of this very female oriented family, was almost one hundred years old, but she was still agile, and her mind was still clear as a bell on most days.

Dinah MacCloud welcomed Monika as a long lost great granddaughter. In fact, she was convinced that Monika was a descendant of her own daughter, Colleen, who had died in childbirth at the age of twenty. Colleen's husband, one James Logan, had taken his infant child back to Ireland. The family had never heard from him since. They never knew what happened to the child.

Gran sometimes called her Colleen. "You must be a MacCloud, Monika. You have the MacCloud eyes, complexion and hair. I would know you anywhere. The MacClouds were originally from Ireland; did you know that?" Dinah MacCloud told her. Monika tried to persuade Great Gran that she was not a relative, but Brianna, Hannah and Sheila begged her to stop.

"Gran never got over my Aunt Colleen's death. What does it hurt to let her think you are my aunt's granddaughter? She loves you as if you were." Brianna stated. Monika could not think of a reason to refuse their request.

The day that they met, Dinah kept saying that Monika had the look of an "amadan" about her. When she asked what that meant, Sheila said "Great Gran thinks you are Fae touched as she claims we all are. Gran claims her husband was a Fae prince by the name of Fallon. He disappeared one day when Aunt Colleen, their last child, was a little girl. The villagers claimed that the banshees got him, but no one really knows what happened to him."

Do you have any relatives in Scotland, lass?" Hannah Danvers, Sheila's aunt, a childless widow asked.

"I don't think so. My father was an only child. He was an American diplomat and met my mother in London a year before they got married. My mother is Irish, but she never said much about her family. I only know that she had a cousin by the name of Rowena O'Reilly in Ireland. I lived with my family in Los Angeles, California before my father died. Then I lived with Rowena for a while; she is an abbess in a monastery that houses hundreds of women near Dublin. I ran away from that place because of her." Monika had a bitter smile on her face when she said that.

At the name of Rowena O'Reilly, Gran MacCloud's head snapped up. "I know her. I met her once when she was younger and I could smell her need for power. That woman is evil, and she frightens me. Like all the Grand Mistresses of that hellhole they call a monastery, she wants to control all the sidhe seers in the world. She thinks it is her destiny and her right, but she is wrong." Gran said as she scrutinized Monika carefully. For the first time in days, her cloudy blue eyes were perfectly clear and her mind sharp.

"I knew there was something about you, lass. I should have known you were sidhe seer when I first met you. I am sidhe seer too. All the women in the MacCloud family are sidhe seers, but the monastery doesn't know anything about us. Rowena believes that there are only six sidhe seer bloodlines, but she is wrong. There are many more scattered all over the world. She can never know anything about the rest of us, do you understand?." Gran adamantly said. Monika nodded.

"The Grand Mistresses have always lied to them, you know. They teach the sidhe seers that all Fae are bad, but that is not true. My Fallon was a good man. He had to leave when Colleen was a babe; I know that. He said if he stayed, we would have been in danger, but I miss him so much." The old woman's faded eyes misted over as she thought about her long lost love. Soon they were cloudy and unfocused once more.

Suddenly, Gran MacCloud cackled. "Fallon once told me that the Unseelie King created the sidhe seers to guard his most powerful creation, the Sinsar Dubh. He said that sidhe seers are a caste of Unseelie. If that is true, then the sidhe seers are all the king's children. Fallon said the Unseelie King wasn't always Fae, he was something else, before, but I don't remember now what he was..." The old woman's face contorted as she tried to remember. That was a couple of weeks before Melanie was born.

Since education wasn't a big priority at the monastery, at night, Donald tutored Monika so she could get her high school diploma. She started taking secretarial courses at night at a local school. She stayed there for almost three years, but when they got wind that Rowena's goons had tracked her to the village, she left.

Melanie stayed with the MacClouds until brought to Ireland two years ago. The villagers protected her daughter at the risk of their own lives.

"I put her in a convent near Kilkenny. I had to take her away for their protection. Rowena would have killed them to find Melanie." Monika said.

"Before I left though, Sheila, Brianna, and some of the other women in the village taught me things. They taught me how to use my sidhe seer gifts. Rowena never taught me, she tried to suppress my gifts. Brianna and Sheila taught me how to develop other gifts and to use magic spells too. They believed that sidhe seers were Earth's first real witches, and that the MacCloud bloodline went back to the first sidhe seers in Ireland. They were powerful witches too, but they never used their magic to hurt, only to help." Monika concluded.

"What did you do then?" Serena asked.

"I roamed around for a while. I worked as a nanny in France, and as maid in Belgium. Finally I went to London to look for my mother, but by that time she had already come back to Ireland looking for me. Rowena told her that I was dead."

"I heard she was in Dublin, so I followed her here. I got a job as a secretary in a law firm, and I finally found her, but we don't see each other much. She was happy to see me, but she was so ashamed for leaving me with Rowena. When I told her what Rowena and her son had done to me, she could barely look at me. I tried to help her, but she drinks so much now too. I never find her sober anymore. I have never told her about Melanie; Rowena would get that information from her in seconds if she tried. " Monika said sadly.

"Did Tegner know about Mellie?" Leni asked.

"Yes. He knew about Melanie from the first day I met him. He overheard me arguing with Rowena about her in Barrons' bookstore. Tegner arranged to bring Melanie here. He will keep her safe with us." A fleeting flare of anger and worry crossed Monika's face, but just swiftly disappeared.

After lunch, the group went to a park nearby and watched as Monika played on the swings with other children. Bridget and Leni's four druid bodyguards stood about ten feet away. The park abutted a major highway and was bound by large concrete barriers on two sides. Thick trees and bushes made the grounds hard to see from the surrounding neighborhood, unless you were were right on top of the place. Entrance to the park was over a bridge that crossed another major highway. It was a private park used only by the children in the area.

There were at least twenty kids with their parents, including a group of boys playing a game of soccer at the other end of the park. The swings, slides and teeter totter were busy as the children queued up to play. It was a nice sunny day for November, and Leni thoroughly enjoyed the sounds of children at play as the cousins sat on a wooden bench and watched Melanie make friends with another little blonde girl.

A sudden blood curdling scream from one of the boys playing ball at the other end of the park caught everyone's attention. Nearby the game, a woman was being attacked by a huge Unseelie monster. It had several heads with tubular mouths and at least six suckered tentacles. It had latched on to her arm and was devouring her. The woman screamed in torment. Leni didn't think the woman could actually see the thing that was latched on to her flesh. She only felt the agony of what was happening. She kept slapping her arms wildly to dislodge whatever had her; her motions were useless. Within seconds, she was making gagging noises her body seemed to melt and crumple in on itself.

A second Unseelie thing shifted past her to attach itself to a human child. It was different from the first one but just as horrible in its own way. It killed the little boy within seconds. Suddenly the small park was overflowing with Unseelie abominations of all shapes and types. Their methods of causing death varied from teeth, fangs and claws to suckers and tentacles that ripped and shredded and sucked.

Sean and the bodyguards tried to get all the cousins through the cordon of Unseelie, but couldn't. Sean yelled, "Bridget, Leni, get everyone into a tight circle! Use your cuffs! Now!" Four pregnant women and one child did as ordered. Leni and Bridget used their Fae cuffs to create an invisible protection shield around them, but Serena refused to enter the safety of the shield. Leni knew the cuff wouldn't last too long as she touched Ryodan's mark to summon him.

"Serena, you too!" Sean demanded as a huge sword appeared in his hands. He and the druid body guards made an outer ring around around the females. His small half Fae cousin female refused. While this was going on, Bridget and the other women were on their cells to contact their men.

"I can fight these things, Sean. My father, Galen, taught me how to fight." An unusual sword appeared in her hands, and she clearly knew how to use it. "This is a Fae sword, Sean. Father gave it to me. It will kill these bastards." She flashed a few yards away in a move so fast she almost blurred. It looked almost as if she were shifting as she demonstrated her boast. She cut one of the Unseelie in half. Whatever the sword was made of, it worked. The monster stayed down; it was dead. She stepped back toward Sean.

The Unseelie were going after the humans and enjoying every ounce of terror they caused. Horrifying screams sounded as women and children died. Blood, bodily fluids and body parts were everywhere. The Unseelie shifted fast taking their victims quickly, sucking out their blood, bodily fluids and their lives in mere seconds. Others slashed and bit their victims to death before they drank or ate their blood and flesh.

When they finished they dropped the pulpy remains and moved on to the next victim. Soon only the cousins and the druid body guards were left. In an inhuman voice, Sean screamed a keening Fae war cry that sent shivers down Leni's spine. Yelling unfamiliar words that sprang naturally to his lips, Sean took out two monsters near him. The first pitched battle of the human/Fae war was enjoined.

The Unseelie monsters tried to break through the outer perimeter, but they were held back by Sean, Serena and the Druids with a ferocity that was terrible to see. The Druids moved faster than humanly possible, hacking and slashing as did Sean and Serena. For a while their speed surprised the Unseelie, but the monsters changed tactics. Some tried to ooze in under the weapons, but they failed

Leni, Bridget, Monika, Megan and Melanie huddled together in a tight bunch as they watched Sean, Serena and the others fight for to save them. They were terrified, but they did not scream. Suddenly, Monika focused on one monster, creating the illusion that it was being torn apart by other Unseelie; it faltered in time for Sean to take it down with a wide slash of his sword.

Sensing what Monika had done, Bridget and Leni joined hands and focused their minds on two other Unseelie causing them to stumble. Serena stepped in and took them both down. Leni and Bridget could not create the same illusions as Monika, but their joined minds had more than enough power to cause confusion in the advancing monsters. The cousins turned on other monsters causing them to aside before being killed by the druids.. Megan held Melanie with her face to her breast so the child could not see what was happening. Mellie was silent, but she was shaking.

Three of the druids went down with Unseelie attached to the bodies. There was no doubt that they would be dead within seconds. A pop sounded; Danal and a strange dark haired Fae male appeared with swords in their hands. They joined the perimeter and began to fight.

When the Unseelie saw the two full blooded Fae males, they made some sound as if to say, "Why are you here?" In answer, Danal and the other Fae roared a chilling Fae war cry and began to cut the Unseelie down. Within minutes the remaining Unseelie tried to shift out, but Danal, and his son, Fallon, caught them as they tried to Unseelie began to shift into the park.

Danal was proud as he fought beside his grandson, Sean, and his granddaughter, Serena. Sean was fearless as he fought the Unseelie. He killed many of them. He was fast and sure and smart in his movements. Danal knew Tegan had taught him well.

As proud as he was of Sean, he was even more so of Serena. The little half Fae female fought almost as fiercely as her much bigger cousin. She moved like the wind without fear. Each slash of her sword hit its mark. With her teeth bared in a grimace, Serena screamed her own Fae war cry as loudly as Sean screamed his. Galen had taught her well too.

Danal's heart was bursting with pride for his grandchildren, but he knew that help had to come soon as even more Unseelie monsters poured through some invisible doorway. Another Druid guard went down.

The fighting seemed to go on forever when the savage war cries of nine other warriors rent the air. The Draghar had arrived.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

As they fought the Unseelie abominations, Sean and Serena were consumed by fierce emotions and even darker passions. They were overwhelmed by these feelings as their minds began to devolve, descending deep below human sentience into their primitive limpic brain. Mindless bloodlust raged; the need to slash, hack and destroy the Unseelie monsters and stop the ongoing slaughter of innocent humans was a red haze in their animal minds. Even stronger, the need to protect their own loved ones raged. It was was not a conscious thought; it was primal instinct as strong as the instinct for survival.

The violent emotions triggered a biological gestalt wave that transformed them both on a genetic level. Their double helix of human DNA began to morph; it changed and shrank. Fae genes, that had been mixed in with human genes, lifted from both strands and created a third helix. The third helix grew and became more pronounced as it wound itself in and around the other two. Recessive Fae genes became dominant; dominant Fae genes became even more so.

Sean and Serena would always be partially human, but at this moment, they both seemed far more Fae than human. Their faces, skin, eyes and hair glowed with the iridescence of a full Fae. As they inhaled in and out, magic infused every breath. Their bodies, which were already powerful by human standards, were even stronger, faster, and more magical than before. They fought beside their grandfather and uncle in perfect precision, but as one Unseelie went down, two or three more came through the portal.

Leni's Fae protection shield was weakening even more as five naked Unseelie males who looked almost like dark Fae upper caste males chanted in unison trying to bring the barrier down completely. The males were huge and well muscled. Their broad chests, slim waists, perfect hips and ripped abs would have put most human males to shame. Their muscled arms, torsos and legs glowed under golden skin. From the neck on down, they were perfect, but their heads were smaller than normal.

They moved with inhuman grace. Silky, raven black hair flowed down below their shoulders. In the front, their hair almost covered large black eyes framed with long, curly lashes. Their eyes were chilling though because they had no irises. Their greedy mouths were open in what could only be called a semblance of a human smile. Sensuous full lips covered rows of shark-like teeth.

Huge, fully erect phalluses gave no doubt that they were sexually aroused. It also gave no doubt as to their intent: these abominations wanted to rape and then torture the females inside the protection shield before killing them. That thought made Leni want to puke. She could see the same reaction in the other women. Melanie understood these beings meant them harm, but her childish mind could not comprehend the extent of the danger they faced. Monika thanked God for that.

Leni, Bridget, Monika, and Megan were horrified beyond belief by the sight and sounds of so many innocent human women and children being ruthlessly massacred by the Unseelie monsters. Melanie whimpered in fright as screams were often snuffed in mid cry, but something deep within her made her understand the need to be quiet. The pain and torment the humans suffered as they were either slashed, clawed and fed upon, or as their bodily fluids, their energy and their very lives were sucked dry, was like a living thing.

All of human descendants had empathic abilities, to a certain extent, but Leni's was the strongest. As the humans suffered and died, they projected emotions so violent and strong that they pushed beyond any mental barriers that she could raise. She screamed in agony as she felt their pain and terror. As she watched the humans die, terror changed to fury; fury changed to rage, and raged morphed into bloodlust. Violent emotions called out to the most savage part of her nature. An elemental need to destroy the beings that slaughtered these innocent women and children slammed through her.

The sound of her cousins crying out in their own horror caught Leni's attention. Bridget, Monika and Megan were broadcasting their thoughts and emotions loudly. They all felt the same thing she did: a primitive need to kill Unseelie. Even little Melanie was affected by the dark passions. Inside the circle of Megan's protective arms, Mellie's eyes were wild with fear, hatred and bloodlust. Bridget reached out her hand and touched the little girl's forehead as she chanted strange words. Melanie fell into an instantaneous sleep. The women stared at Bridget with unspoken questions.

"I placed a spell on her to make her forget this, but I don't actually know how I did it. The words just came out by themselves." Bridget whispered as she stared at Monika. "She is so frightened, and I don't want her to be traumatized this. She is too young to see such things. When this is over, I hope she won't remember what happened here."

"Whatever you did, Bridget, I am grateful. No child should witness this horror." Monika quietly answered her back.

Five more Unseelie monsters had joined the others to try and break through the invisible protection shield generated by Bridget and Leni's Fae cuffs. All ten of them screamed their hatred and hunger for the women with long chiming inhuman cries. The sound was horrible; it hit with the force of a laser and caused the women's ears to bleed. As one, the women gasped from the sheer force of the sound. Suddenly, the need to kill Unseelie swamped them all again, but as strong as that need was, an even deeper need to protect the lives growing within their wombs surfaced.

Leni knew the moment that the women decided what to do. Without words, they formed an outward facing circle around Mellie and joined hands. The moment, they touched, the wind built up and began to shriek. They could feel a wave of magic power as it flowed around and around through their bodies, growing in strength with each circuit. Their faces took on an alien Fae cast. They were surrounded by a eerie golden light that flashed iridescent colors of a rainbow. The light crackled and sparked with Fae energy. Without understanding why, Leni, Bridget, Monika and Megan began to chant in an ancient Fae language that none of them had ever heard before, but somehow understood and could speak perfectly now.

The ten Unseelie males, caught up by the sound and the sight of the four women, stumbled and stilled their chiming for a second. That proved to be their undoing as Danal, Fallon, Sean and Serena cut them down. As they battled the monsters, Danal and Fallon's hearts were filled with pride as they recognized the First Fae language being chanted by their human descendants; they had both spoken it at one time. The chant was a powerful magic Fae spell even older than the Unseelie monsters they fought. As they chanted inside the protection shield, Leni, Bridget, Monika and Megan began to change. Like Sean and Serena before them, they were still human, but their. Fae genes became dominant.

The wind shrieked even louder and swirled around the park with the fury of a tornado. Lightening struck trees turning them into smoldering ruins. Danal, Fallon, Sean and Serena were savage as they fought to protect the pregnant women and the child in the circle. All four of them moved with Fae speed as they battled their opponent. They gave no quarter and showed no mercy as they hacked and slashed the Unseelie to death.

Just when Danal and his family thought they would be victorious, more Unseelie flowed through the open portal, attracted by the sounds and smells of battle. Not to be deterred, Leni brought the Fae shield down. Laser beams of pure Fae energy crackled from four pair of outstretched hands and surged over and through the ten Unseelie high caste males causing them unbearable pain. Their seared bodies began to bubble and hiss. They screamed in anguish as chunks of sizzling flesh fell away from their bodies. After a few seconds, they were all dead; their remains still smoldered as the women turned their new found magic power on other Unseelie.

Attempting to shift away, other monsters bounced back into the waiting swords of Danal, Fallon, Sean and Serena, yet the small defending force was losing the battle when mighty baying roars stilled the Unseelie for a moment. The sound was bestial; it was inhuman; it was one that the Unseelie had hoped to never hear again. They panicked in their attempt to get away, but they were stopped by a Draghar force field.

It was a scene of pure horror that the nine fully armed Draghar warriors encountered as they poured over the bridge and through the entrance to the private park. The ground was littered with the bodies of dead or dying monsters along with the humans these things had killed. Leni, Bridget, Monika and Megan surrounded a sleeping little girl as they fought Unseelie. They did not fight with swords, but they fought like warriors none the less. Laser like beams of light shot from the women's outstretched hands searing Unseelie flesh, burning them until they sizzled. The women yelled their own war cries as the monsters died screaming in agony.

A small band of fighters outside the perimeter roared their war cries as they used Fae swords to hack and slash their way through the growing number of nightmarish monsters. For a second, they watched in astonishment as Sean, Serena, Danal and another full blood Fae male risked their own lives and killed Fae to protect their Draghar mates. Tegan knew immediately who the strange Fae prince was.

"That's Fallon, one of Prince Danal's sons," he said to the surprise of the other males as their own weapons appeared out of nowhere. The Draghar knew that guns would not kill these swords, spears and knives infused with Draghar magic could bring them down.

Lor heard nothing. All he could see was his woman, Serena, fighting with a huge multi-armed Unseelie monster with shark like fangs and long talons. He rushed to her side and pushed her behind him. With a broad swipe of a heavy Draghar sword, he cut the creature in two. There was a look of surprise on the hideous face of monster; he had already slashed huge gashes in Serena's neck and shoulder and was about to deal her a death blow when Lor killed him instead. Serena was in her own world as she flew at another monster. She didn't hear Lor as he cried out her name.

The other eight warriors spread out and enjoined the battle as quickly as Lor. Terrible memories of the slaughter of their human wives and children seared through all their minds and loosened primal passions older than the human race had existed on this planet. The air was redolent with Draghar battle pheromones as the mated warriors surrounded the women and fought to protect their mates.

The other warriors spread out through the park killing Unseelie without mercy wherever they found them. The need to protect the women carrying half Draghar babies in their wombs was just as strong in the unmated Draghar warriors. They bayed chilling roars as they cut down the monsters. All nine warriors had only one thought: two thousand years ago, they had arrived too late to save their wives and children. Now fate had given them another chance, and this time the outcome would be different.

Zigor roared a powerful incantation, and the portal closed trapping several abominations in inter-dimennsional space; their death screams were music to the Draghar ears. With the portal closed, Zigor and Tygir came at the Unseelie from behind driving them toward Fade and Angus. Soon there were only a few monsters left, and they were caught between an outer perimeter of Danal, Fallon, Zigor, Tygir, Fade, and an inner perimeter of Ryodan, Tegan, Tegner, Kasteo, Lor and Serena.

As they fought, Lor tried to push Serena behind him again, "I fight for you," he snarled, but the savage look on the little blonde's face let him know she was having none of that. To add to it, the heat of battle had stirred her sexual lust for him. Lor could smell her sex pheromones strongly in the air; they triggered his own pheromones and he began to cast to her. Lor was proud of Serena. In a split second, the uncertainty of the last two weeks disappeared. Lor recognized that Serena was his; his true soulmate, and he loved her. Everything else was just bullshit.

As she brought another monster down, Serena grinned a fierce, proud smile at Lor. Lust and love for him blazed in her eyes. She was ready for him; he knew it in the marrow of his bones. He understood, really understood for the first time since he met Serena, that this young female was his and she felt the same as he. He smiled broadly back; his grin held a promise. Tonight they would finally mate; she would be his.

In moments, silence enveloped the park. The Unseelie were all dead; the battle was over. The Fae males, including Sean and the Draghar warriors stood silently exulting in their victory. Leni, Bridget, Monika and Megan were filled with joy at the sight of their mates. The women moved into the protection of their mates and shuddered as the intense emotions, that had overcome them only minutes before, faded and died.

Only Serena had not moved to her man. Lor turned to the little blonde to see her falter and go down. Her face, body and arms were covered in blood. She had gotten separated from him at the last moment, and one of the monsters had finally gotten to her. She had been wounded, but her wounds were not serious until the last Unseelie had slashed her deeply with his talons before being killed by Lor. The carotid artery in Serena's neck had been severed, and blood was pumping out of her throat.

"Serena, no! "No, it can't happen again. I can't lose you too." Lor uttered a strangled cry of anguish as he moved to her side.

Kneeling down beside her, his big hand automatically moved to stem the blood flowing from her carotid artery. She had other serious wounds, but this one was the worst. He scooped her up in his arms and held her to close to his breast with one hand on her neck holding the artery together. His huge body shook with rage and a growing sense of grief as he felt and heard her heartbeat slowing. Her skin was growing white and cool. Her heartbeat was growing thready and irregular, but she was still breathing.

Shifting quickly to kneel beside his granddaughter and the ancient Draghar warrior. Danal spoke softly, "There's still time to save her, but she must drink this now before it is too late. Let me help my granddaughter." A small glass vial suddenly appeared in Danal's hand as he reached for Serena.

Lor snarled at him and turned aside moving Serena with him. In his mental state, he either didn't hear the Fae prince or did not comprehend Danal's words. He only knew that another male was trying to take his dying mate away from him.

"No one will take her from me. I won't let anyone take her from me," Lor growled. Sorrow overwhelmed him; he wanted to hold Serena until she drew her last breath. Tears ran down his face as he cried openly for the dying girl in his arms. Serena's flesh was white as snow and growing cooler by the minute. Her skin felt icy; her lips were blue. Lor could barely hear her heart beat. The thought that he was losing this perfect little woman,before he ever got a chance to tell her how much he loved her was killing him. He bayed out his pain and grief.

The others gathered around Danal, Lor and Serena. Leni, Bridget, Monika, Megan and Melanie who had awoken were sobbing loudly. Sean was white faced with worry. Even Fallon, the strange new Fae with the dark hair and green eyes, looked grief stricken. As a doctor, Megan knelt to help, but Kasteo drew her to his side.

"Danal must do this, Megan. Only he can save her now," the warrior said quietly; his own voice was laden with emotion. Kasteo could feel his soulmate's sorrow for her new found cousin. "Serena will be all right, love. Danal is going to give her the elixir of life. We spoke about it this morning, remember?" he said as he pulled her face into his chest to comfort her.

"Lor, listen to me. You must let Danal help your woman. Keep your hand on her throat, but you must let Danal give her the elixir, Lor. It is the only thing that can save Serena now." Jericho Zigor Barrons said softly. Lor only stared blankly into space and rocked back and forth as he held on to Serena.

Afraid to touch the other warrior, lest he trigger a killing frenzy, Barrons spoke the words again, only louder and more firmly. The sound of his leader's voice finally broke through the virtual wall of grief that engulfed the ancient warrior. Lor looked blankly at Danal for a second. Comprehension, then hope shown in his black eyes. He nodded his agreement. Supporting her head and neck with one arm and still holding her carotid together with the other hand, Lor reluctantly moved to allow the old Fae prince access to his granddaughter, Serena.

Danal bent close to his Serena. He uncapped the vial and carefully poured the contents into her mouth, closed her lips, and pinched her nostrils together. Fortunately, the slash to her carotid artery was not deep enough to pierce her esophagus and the liquid went down after she attempted to take a breath. Danal quickly released her nostrils, and Serena gasped as she drew in a large breath. She sputtered and choked, but all of the elixir went down and stayed down. The elixir began to take effect immediately.

With his hand still holding her carotid together for what seemed like forever, Lor sensed Serena's lifeforce getting stronger. The flesh in her neck began to thrum with life, as first the artery, and then the muscles and the flesh around it, began to knit together. Blood stopped pouring out of her neck and the other wounds in her face, torso and arms. Flesh that had been white and cool only moments before began to pink and warmed as blood began to flow. Her lips were no longer blue. Her heart beat got stronger with each breath. Within five minutes, Serena fought her way back to consciousness. She screamed as her body burned with a strange pain.

The relief on Lor's face was palpable. He lifted his hand from Serena's throat and grabbed Danal's hand. "I owe you a debt that I can never repay, Prince Danal," he said in a broken voice.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for my granddaughter. I tried to give her the elixir two weeks ago, but she refused. She is stubborn, that one. I regret that she almost had to die before I could give the elixir to her. It will do its job; she will survive and live a long, long time. My granddaughter chose you; although why she would is a mystery to me. She loves you. She is yours to protect now. Take good care of her." Danal said simply.

He stood up. He moved toward Monika and Megan. "Please take elixir before something like this happens to you," he begged. "I may not always be able to get here in time to save you. Tell them, Draghar. Make them understand, please."

Tegner and Kasteo had told them of the elixir only that morning. Neither women were sure they wanted to be nearly immortal. They decided to wait for a while and see what happened with Leni and Bridget before making a decision to take the life extending liquid. After witnessing Serena's close brush with death and Lor's grief, they both knew they did not want to cause their mates that kind of pain. They both nodded. Tegner and Kasteo smiled with relief; they would never force their women to take the elixir, but they were elated that they agreed to do so.

Danal produced two more vials, and both women drank. The others watched as Monika and Megan drank the potion that would grant them extended life. Everyone was silent as if a holy ceremony was taking place. Leni cried softly with relief as Ryodan held her close. In the warmth of his embrace, she felt safe and secure. She was so grateful that the battle was over; she had no idea what the Fae and the Draghar would do about the Unseelie bodies and the human remains, but she was so tired, she just could not think about that now.

Leni knew that her wedding to Ryodan would have to be postponed at least a week so that Serena could fully heal. She smiled to herself as she watched Lor hold her cousin close and whisper to her. The giant warrior looked so helpless with her petite cousin. Monika and Megan also needed a few days to get through the worst of the fever and illness that the elixir inevitably caused. Tegner and Kasteo looked worried; they wanted to take their mates home. Leni started to ask Ryodan to take her home when Bridget's startled cry stopped her.

"Oh God! I think my water just broke," Bridget said. The tall, elegant blond had an amazed look on her face as she stared down at the liquid that had gushed out of her a moment before. It pooled on the ground and on her shoes. The insides of her thighs were wet from her crotch to ankles; the fluid had darkened the navy wool slacks.

Bridget gasped as a strong contraction swept through her. She had been having labor pains since early that morning, but dismissed them as false labor. The pains had been relatively light and inconsistent. Dr. O'Malley had advised her that it was normal for women to undergo false labor several times during their first pregnancy. Both Megan and Leni said the same thing, so Bridget simply ignored the pains. For almost three hours she felt nothing until five minutes ago when a severe contraction hit. Two more strong contractions followed; the pressure on her back and stomach was getting strong now. She really, really wanted to push.

"This is it, Te. I guess all the excitement got to me. Your son's in a hurry to be born, and I don't know if we have time to make it to the hospital," Bridget laughed giddily as she spoke softly to her husband. She leaned against him; only Tegan's arms kept her from falling.

"I'm in labor, Leni. Can you believe it?" she cried louder. Danal, Sean and Leni moved to her side. Megan moved to help, but the elixir was already taking effect. Her body burned as the potion began to make permanent changes to her body. It was clear that Monika felt the same way. Leni stepped forward, but Ryodan held her back. He knew from their bond that she was still shaky and exhausted from the effects of the battle; he was worried about her own pregnancy.

It's okay, Bridey," Danal said softly using his granddaughter's childhood nickname. "I am here. I will help you deliver your son."

"I will help too, Bridey," Sean stated.

Danal and Fallon both waved their hands, and everyone seemed to be transported to a large clean room with a bed in the center of it. Danal and Sean were dressed in hospital scrubs with stethoscopes around their necks. Bridget was dressed in a clean gown and hooked up to several monitors. She cried out as another sharp pain hit.

Tegan held one of Bridget's hands as he sat behind her supporting her body. Leni sat on a chair holding Bridget's other hand; Ryodan stood behind her with his hands on his mate's shoulders.

Everyone, except Melanie, who had been taken away by Fallon, watched as Danal and Sean worked with Bridget. For twenty minutes, Danal repeatedly checked the heartbeat of her son and the progress of her dilation. As the contractions got stronger and more painful, Bridget tried not to cry out, but her body tensed. She squeezed Tegan's hands so hard; the bones in his fingers would have snapped had he been human.

The mated warriors held their women in their arms as they watched. The unmated males simply stared at the miracle unfolding before them. None of them had actually seen the births of their children before. It was simply not done in Draghar society, and ancient humans considered back luck for a male to be present in the room during childbirth, but nothing could have pulled the big males away now.

They could all sense Bridget's pain; they got caught up in the emotion and drama of the event. They listened as Tegan and Leni coached Bridge, taking short shallow breaths as the contractions hit; some of them breathed with her too. Others crooned magic incantations to protect the woman on the bed and to ensure the delivery of a healthy child. If Bridget was embarrassed by their attentions, she did not show it.

The contractions grew longer, harder and closer together. As Bridget's distress grew, Danal lightly stroked his granddaughter's enlarged stomach, and Sean stroked her arms and legs. Their touch was soothing and healing. They both chanted Fae magic spells in a low voice as the delivery continued. After one final check, Danal drew in a satisfied breath and smiled. "Your son is crowning, Bridget; it will be over soon."

Draghar males are extremely possessive and jealous animals. The other males were all somewhat surprised that Tegan allowed Danal and Sean to touch Bridget, even if they were family, but Tegan did not care. Through their mental bond, he could feel the intensity of Bridget's labor and wondered how her delicate human body could withstand such pain. As Danal and Sean stroked and chanted, Tegan could feel Bridget begin to relax. The pain faded; all that was left was the intense pressure and the need to bear down was almost unbearable. Tegan took a deep breath; he was worried now, while Bridget was calm.

"Now, Bridget. Push now!" Danal cried just before a dark head appeared. Tegan held his breath as his son slid easily into his Fae great grandfather's awaiting hands. Patrick Ian Tegan opened his tiny mouth and wailed long and loud. Danal handed the boy to Sean and bent back to Bridget to attend the rest of the delivery. Using a warm, wet soft cloth, Sean cleaned his nephew off.

As he worked, Sean was smiling like a crazy man while two tiny fists and two tiny feet flailed the air. Apparently little Patrick was affronted by the strange new sights, sounds and sensations. There was no mistaking Tegan's son; he looked exactly like his father with a full head of straight black hair, and dark obsidian eyes. His skin was as red as a lobster, and his dark eyes were scrunched up tightly as he wailed his indignation again, but to Tegan and Bridget, he was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Fallon came back into the room holding Melanie handed his great, great grand daughter to Leni. He moved to stand beside his father and Sean as he observed the newest member of the family. Danal, Sean, Fallon and the other Draghar warriors howled in joy as they stamped their feet and clapped their hands. Their noise made little Patrick cry louder. Bridget laughed out loud as her grandfather laid her newborn son in her arms.

As Patrick Ian Tegan came into this world, a private aircraft hit the tarmac at a private airport outside of Dublin. Several minutes later, the passengers disembarked. A middle aged portly man stood outside the hangar door as he watched two stunningl elegantly dressed women approach.

Both woman were tall. One woman was looked to be about thirty years of age. She was 6'0" with chocolate brown hair with blonde highlights. Her almond shaped gold fleck copper eyes were framed with long dark lashes. They were the kind of eyes that mesmerized. Her tall figure was flawless, and she moved with a dancer's grace. She smiled and waved at the man.

The other woman was the tallest, biggest, most perfectly formed woman he had ever seen. She looked to be about twenty two or three, and she was at least 6'3" tall with long legs and a lithe, but feminine body. Rounded hips flared out from a small bosom could not be called generous, but it was more than enough. Her long, naturally straight black hair fell like a waterfall to her waist. She had the kind of hair that most women would have spent hours and hundreds of dollars in a beauty salon to have; it looked like silk as it glistened as a light wind blew it back from her face. Her complexion was golden too, but it was much different than the other women's skin. She wore no makeup to enhance her natural gifts, but her skin glowed with health.

The tall young woman exuded vitality, self confidence and a aura that was almost electric. She had an unconscious sexuality that made all the males in the small private airstrip stop to stare at her. She was beautiful, but she either wasn't aware of it, or she didn't care. Unlike most beautiful women, this girl seemed friendly and utterly approachable, and that made her seem even more sexy. It was neither her beauty, nor her sexuality that was herbest feature; it was her eyes. She had the same gold flecked copper eyes as the other woman; they mesmerized; they pulled you in; they made you want to get to know her.

"Martin, it's so good to see you after all these years. I am glad you contacted me." The older woman said.

"Ydris, it is a pleasure to see you as well. As I told you on the phone, your father is here in Dublin, and so is your brother, Fallon. I thought it was time for you to come home."

"I saw Fallon about five years ago; he told me he was leaving Earth for a while, but I thought my father was dead. I had heard some fifteen years ago that V-Lane or one of his minions had killed him. How long have you known he was alive? Why did you not tell me before? I am so glad that you still serve him, Martin."

Martin McDonald said as stared at the young woman with Ydris, but he addressed his comments to her. " I swore not to reveal Danal's existence to anyone just as I vowed to keep your existence a secret. You know that I keep my sworn oaths, Ydris. You also know that I don't serve the Fae as a druid anymore. I stopped that long before I saw you last, but I owe Danal much, and I owed your brother, Galen, even more. Your father is and always will be my friend. As I said, I contacted you and your brother because I thought it was time for you to come home. The war between the humans and the Fae and the Unseelie will be upon us soon. There is much to do to get ready, and Danal will need you both at his side."

"I will introduce you tonight to some people I want you to meet at my pub tonight. By the way, I thought you were coming alone. Who is your friend?"

"She is not my friend, Martin. She is my daughter, Leandra Leland; she likes to be called Annie. I thought it was time to show her Ireland. When you last saw me twenty three years ago, I was pregnant with her, but I am sure you did not know that." Ydris said. She looked no more than five or six years older than the younger woman.

"No I didn't know you were pregnant, but I still would have helped you. You are Danal's daughter after all. Annie is not full Fae, but she has no human blood, does she?" Martin McDonald mused for a second, finally it hit him what Annie was. The thought surprised him and made him feel uneasy."Her father doesn't know about her, does he? I think the shite is really going to hit the fan now, Ydris. I know him; he will want to kill you for not telling him; you should know that."

"You are very perceptive, Martin. No, Annie's father is not a human male; he is Draghar. Even if he wants to kill me, he will find I that I do not die so easily; I have learned a few more tricks since I last saw him. Anyway, it is his fault that he doesn't know about her, but that is between the two of us, don't you agree. Frankly, I don't think he will give a damn one way or another. I assume that the Draghar are all here in Dublin?" Ydris replied with a strange smile on her face.

Martin McDonald nodded. He was caught by the look on Ydris' face. It was a look of hatred, betrayal and pain. She looked like a woman bent on revenge.


	27. Chapter 27

Sorry for the long delay in updating. Tax preparation, a long bout with the flue and vacation interruped for a while, but now I am back. Happy reading.

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Chapter 27

The ride from the airport to the small, but luxurious estate outside of the city that Martin had quickly procured for Ydris and her daughter was fraught with tension so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Ydris sat beside him in front, peppering him with questions while Annie sat silently in the back seat. In the rear view mirror, Martin caught glimpses of the beautiful dark haired young woman from time to time; there was pain and anger in her copper eyes, and it was clear that was grieving someone, but something else was going on in those dark eyes too, and he wondered what that was.

Martin knew that Annie was mourning Max Leland, the man who had raised her as his daughter since birth. He had died the week before, thrown by his prize stallion, Domingo, while riding in the fields at his ranch. His horse had been startled by a rattlesnake, and Max had landed on the sharp blades of a reaping machine. His chest and arm had been mangled, by the time that a ranch hand got to him, he had lost too much blood. He died in a medivac helicopter enroute to the nearest hospital. Ydris was at his side, but he was unconsciousness the whole time. Max Leland was a good friend of Martin's, and Ydris called to notify him of the death. It was the second time since he had known her that he heard Ydris cry.

Ydris sat beside Martin occasionally asking questions, but her own grief was apparent on her face. Martin knew his friend, Max, had fallen in love with the beautiful Fae female on the day he met her, and Martin encouraged a relationship between the two. Ydris never tried to fool his friend about how she felt. Although she truly liked Max, she married him, mainly to provide a safe haven for herself and her unborn child. However, through the years, she had grown to love the retiring lanky rancher; she found he had a nobility about him that was lacking in other men.

Theirs was not a fiery, passionate love, but rather a comfortable, succoring and deeply satisfying relationship of friends who were also lovers. They made each other happy, and she mourned Max deeper than she had ever mourned a human husband or lover before. She would always be grateful that Martin McDonald had introduced Max Leland to her.

Due to a bout with measles when he was a young boy, Max could not have children. He never cared that Annie wasn't his biological daughter; he was there at her birth, and he was the first person to hold the tiny bundle in his arms. Ydris knew Max fell in love with the tiny half Fae, half Draghar baby girl the first moment he saw her. As far as he was concerned, the child was his daughter, and Annie returned the feeling. As Annie grew, they were closer than most biologically related father and daughter; so close that Ydris sometimes felt left out.

As they drove, Martin explained in further detail why he called her back Ireland. Ydris heard every word her old friend said and agreed it was time to come home. Ydris asked questions and kept her side of the conversation up, but Martin noted her skepticism. He also that she kept looking back at Annie with a look of longing on her face. There was no doubt that Ydris and her beautiful daughter were estranged for some reason, but now was not the time to ask why, so Martin kept his thoughts to himself.

As they drove, Ydris began to think about her relationship with the human male sitting beside her. She had known him nearly as long as her twin, Galen, had. Martin had come to her assistance more than once over the years. The last time was more than twenty three years ago on another planet. She was several weeks pregnant with Annie at the time, but she never told her friend about that.

Despite her best efforts to avoid capture by V-Lane and his minions, the Fae queen's scheming favorite had found her at long last. She was living on another planet, and had just spent several amazing months living and mating with a Draghar male. The Draghar and the Fae had been mortal enemies for thousands of years; they should have tried to kill each other, instead they ended up in bed together. Their time together was as passionate and magic as two powerful, immortal beings could make it. She fell in love with her Draghar lover; she thought he loved her too.

Summoned by his leader, Zigor, he left after swearing to return as soon as he could. She did not tell him she was pregnant; she decided to wait until he came back. Her Draghar warrior never returned, and V-Lane found her a week later. During the torment that followed, Ydris wondered if her lover had deliberately abandoned her, or worse. She began to believe her fears and found herself hating him as much as she loved him before. She swore to avenge herself on him one day.

Instead of simply killing her quickly as was his way, V-Lane mercilessly tortured her for days trying to find out where Danal and the rest of her Fae family was hiding. For some reason, he never found out she was pregnant, and Ydris was thankful for that. The bastard took pleasure in the pain he caused. He even messed with her mind. He gave her a potion that wiped out her memory and put a spell on her that caused her physical wounds not to heal. He left her alone and near death on that desert planet, certain that the carnivorous lizard-like natives would finish her off once they found her.

Martin had searched for her for days, and when he found her, she was almost dead. She was so badly injured, she did not even know who or what she was. He tended to her as best he could, and when she was able to move, he moved her to a safe house in Ireland for a week, then moved her again. This time, it was in America at Max Leland's, ranch in Montana.

Martin told her that he had met Max some ten years before while the American studied archeology and ancient Celtic/Pict cultures at Trinity College. He had developed an instant affinity for the younger man who went on to become a professor at Montana State University. It was a friendship that was to last during Max's lifetime.

At Max's ranch, Martin continued his treatment of her mind and her physical wounds. With help of his druid magic coupled with the Fae magic he had been taught earlier by both Danal and herself, Martin completely cured his former lover. She regained all of her memory and her magic powers. At her request, he left her with Max when he returned to his family in Ireland. Although they kept in touch, she did not see him again until she got off the plane earlier. Through out the years, Martin kept her whereabouts a secret as she had asked.

Although at the time, Martin claimed that he helped her only because of a debt he owed to Danal and her brother, Ydris knew there was more to it than that. Martin was a druid; they had once been lovers, and they shared a unique magical bond that could not be severed. In a curious way, she knew she would always have a place in Martin's heart. That thought comforted her. That special bond let him know that she was in trouble; it also led him to her. By this time, Martin was remarried with a family. He loved his human wife passionately and deeply, but there was no way he could ignore his tie to her.

Annie Leland sat in the back seat while her mother talked to Martin McDonald. She wasn't interested in their conversation; her mind was focused on the events of the past week. Hurt, confusion and anger clouded her mind. She felt betrayed by Ydris and Max. For twenty three years, she felt she had lived a charmed life, but less than a week ago, her world was turned upside down. After Max Leland was laid to rest in the family plot, she found out that she had been lied to by the two people she loved most in this world; she hated them both now.

The story her mother spun that day left Annie speechless and in disbelief. Ydris Leland claimed that she herself was not human, that she was in fact an immortal Fae princess who was more than a hundred thousand years old. She also claimed that Annie's father wasn't human either: he was some sort of shapeshifing alien who spent part of his life in beast form. Annie wondered if her mother had gone crazy that day, but crazy or not, the world as she knew it had come crashing down on her head.

According to her mother, the man, she thought was her father for twenty three years, was not related to her at all. In addition, the person that she thought she was all her life did not really exist. Hannah, "Annie" Leland was a freak of nature. She had always known she was "different." She was stronger, faster, more intelligent than other children; she healed faster from minor scrapes and bruises and was never sick a day in her life. She also had unusual paranormal abilities, including second sight and clairvoyance.

It was strange to find out that she no human blood in her at all. It was even stranger to find out that her mother was a fairy, something that Annie thought only existed in "fairy" tales and myths. According to her mother, fairies were not like Cinderella's fairy godmother; oh no, they were more like Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

She didn't know whether to cry or laugh hysterically when her mother told her she was half fairy and half something else. She didn't know exactly what her "real" father was because she had stopped listening as Ydris talked. Annie could not even bring herself to look her mother in the eye. She told her she did not want to hear another word out of her lying mouth. She had hurt her mother when she said that, but she did not care.

Her mother claimed that Max had never wanted Annie to know that she was not his daughter because he loved her so much. Knowing her dad the way she did, his part in the deception had the ring of truth. Her mother also said that she kept her mouth shut because she wanted to protect Annie from enemies that included both the Fae and her father's people. That didn't make sense to Annie, and she had doubts about her mother's motives. Still, right now she hated both her parents equally for the lie she lived. She wondered if she would ever be able to forgive either of them.

Last fall, she and Stevie had won the Montana State Country Music Award for the most promising new duo. Stephanie Majors was her roommate for four years at the Montana State University where she majored in agriculture and animal sciences. Annie fully expected to inherit and run her father's ranch one day, but for several years, the friends had sung together at local bars and events. They formed a popular duo called, "Lady Fair" and also formed their own band. Annie loved music and loved singing, but it was not a forever thing for her the way it was for Stevie. Perhaps now was the time to make the break.

Stevie had studied the performance arts and was a music major. Although they lived on opposite ends of the state, both girls had been raised on large working ranches in Montana and loved it. They had both performed in rodeo competitions during their teens and had met each other a time or two in the past. Like her, Stevie was also blessed with second sight and other paranormal abilities. They liked the same music, the same books and movies, had crushes on the actors and singers and even liked the same style of clothing.

They were often called Mutt and Jeff. Stevie was a petite, green eyed redhead who barely reached 5'3." Annie had raven haired and copper eyes. She towered twelve inches over her friend. Both were fun loving, outgoing and attracted boys like honey attracts bees; they turned heads whenever they walked into a room. Curiously enough, neither one of them had ever had a serious relationship with a man, even though neither of them were virgins.

For days, Annie missed Stevie whom she hadn't seen since her father's funeral. By the end of that day, Annie was so messed up, she couldn't tell her friend what was wrong. Anyway, how does one tell a friend that you are not a human being? "Hey Stevie, guess what, I am an alien. You know, just like E.T." Knowing Stevie, she would probably just laugh her ass off.

Annie had always loved her mother and was close to her, but she loved her father even more. When she was growing up, she and her father were almost inseparable. So much so that Annie knew that her mother was sometimes a little jealous of their relationship. She and her Dad did everything they could to make sure her mother felt included in their plans. Finding out that Max was not her father, and that her whole life had been a lie, hurt more than she thought possible.

After stowing their luggage at their new home, Martin took the three of them to his pub for a bite to eat. It was late, and the bar was almost empty; the three of them sat at a table in the back. Annie didn't realize how hungry she was until the food was placed in front of her. She stuffed her mouth while she began to question Martin about his relationship with her mother. This time, she paid attention to what he said.

First of all, Martin McDonald was much older than he looked, due to her Fae grandfather, Prince Danal, and his magic. He had known her mother very well for more than one hundred years; in fact, they had been lovers for time shortly after they had first met. At that time, although Martin was almost fifty years old, he looked like a young, handsome, virile man in his middle twenties.

Their affair was not a grand passion for either of them; it was more a coming together of two extraordinary beings who were very attracted to each other. They enjoyed their time together; it was passionate and explosive, but the fire eventually died. Their parting was amicable, and they remained close friends to this day.

Martin McDonald was an interesting human being; he was descended from a long line of Irish druid priests who secretly served the Tuatha De Danaan. Although his family was not as old or as powerful as their Scottish cousins, the MacKeltars, the McDonalds served their Fae masters well and had come to the attention of Queen Aiobheal. When he was in his twenties, Martin, along with his father, once hid and tended to Prince V-Lane after he was injured and almost killed by two Draghar warriors.

Martin did not like V-Lane who often boasted about his relationship with his queen. Often when the beautiful Fae prince spoke about Aiobheal, Martin sensed there was something dreadfully wrong with him. Although V-Lane spoke of love, the young druid saw hatred in V-Lane's eyes that belied his words. Martin was not clairvoyant, but he often had dark dreams of V-Lane. The dreams were vague, but they spoke of treachery and betrayal. He thought of warning the Fae queen, but he had no proof. Besides, he knew that Aiobheal punished those who spoke against her lover.

Shortly after providing sanctuary and assistance to V-Lane, Martin nearly succumbed to an epidemic of cholera that swept the Irish countryside. Many of the villagers, including two of his children died from the disease. Their deaths deeply affected Martin's wife, Mary, who, for some reason blamed him for the death of their two year old twins, Walter and Mary Margaret. Mary did not know Martin was a druid, or that he had he planned to train five year old Walter in the druid arts when he was older.

Grateful for his assistance to her favorite consort, Aiobheal ordered Prince Danal, who was a trusted advisor at that time, to cure the human male. Danal used a Fae magic spell to save Martin's life. An unintended result of Danal's magic, not only extended Martin's life, but radically slowed down the aging process.

Twenty years later, Martin and Mary had eight more children, and he was a wealthy merchant. The people in his village and in the surrounding area started to notice the fact that he hadn't aged much in the past two decades. It was the late nineteenth century, but many people in rural Ireland were governed by superstition. They began to call him a witch.

Spurred on by an embittered wife, people began to whisper that Martin was possessed of the devil. Mary told him one night that she hated him. Rumors of witchcraft spread like wildfire and the townsfolk began to take it out on Martin and some of his other children. A confrontation with an angry mob ended in the death of another son, so he moved his family to a farm near Dublin. He gave his wife all the money he had in the world, which was considerable, and disappeared. Before he left, Martin made his two oldest sons, nineteen year old twin boys, swear they would take care of their mother and their siblings.

Through out the remainder of her life, Martin supported Mary McDonald and his family, but he never saw them again. He roamed Europe for years before he ran into Ydris; he was lost in darkness and despair. He had loved Mary deeply and was hurt by her betrayal of him, but he knew her actions were borne of her own sorrow and superstition. She had never gotten over the death of their oldest children. She suffered long bouts of depression, but he kept hoping she would get over it one day. As much as Mary blamed him for the loss of their children; Martin blamed himself even more.

By then Prince Danal was in open rebellion against the Queen's favorite and tried to warn Aiobheal about him. V-Lane took his revenge by slaughtering members of Danal's Fae house by the hundreds. Like many others in her family, Ydris hid in Europe. It was during that time that Martin first met Ydris through Danal. Danal knew exactly where Ydris was and created a diversion to draw the Fae warriors away from his daughter while Martin helped her escape to a new location.

She learned later that V-Lane had chased Danal across Earth and Faery and across several other worlds before they lost him. At Danal's request, Martin had moved her to a safe location in Ireland that he had securely warded with druid spells. It was there that they became lovers. When their passion burned itself out, a strong, healthy friendship remained.

During their time together, Ydris learned that Martin still loved his human wife and family. He would grieve their loss forever. Martin McDonald was the kind of a man who needed to love a woman. He was the kind of a man who needed a family, but because of his slow aging, he would forever be fearful of loving again.

It was Ydris who came up with the idea of how Martin could stay with his next human family. He would first be a husband to his wife and father to their children, and after his wife's death, he would be a brother. It was Ydris who taught Martin the spells that made him seem to age like other humans. It was Ydris who taught Martin memory spells that made his children forget that he was their father and believe that he was their oldest brother.

It was during the time that he was with Ydris that Martin stopped being a druid who served the Tuatha De Danaan. V-Lane's savage attack on Danal's family, and Aiobheal's final betrayal of his friend, Danal, caused Martin to question his loyalty to the Fae. He pledged his loyalty to his friend, Prince Danal, and his Fae family, instead. It was an oath that he never forgot. Later when Galen had saved his son Patrick, Martin knew that he would be forever beholden to Danal and his family.

Danal had taught Martin much Fae magic, but during their time together, Ydris taught him even more. He learned more Fae magic than most druids would ever learn or use in their lifetime. Danal had taught Martin how to use Fae portals to other worlds; Ydris taught him how to locate them. Risking death from her queen, Ydris even taught Martin the magic for sifting; that magic was rarely taught to a human and had only been given to the MacKeltars as far as Martin knew. It was a good thing that she had done so, because that magic helped Martin save Ydris' life; in truth, that magic was also responsible for saving Annie's life as well.

As Martin relayed his story, Annie's cellphone rang. It was Vic Montagna, her band manager, on her cellphone. Annie preferred to have this conversation in private, so she stepped into the ladies room to talk. The aging former rock star, who now managed Annie's up and coming country rock band, Lady Fair, was pitching a fit and reaming her out for not returning after her father's funeral. The band was near the end of a very successful tour and several dates had to be canceled. Vic was doing his worst and threatening a law suit.

"I can't deal with this now, Vic. I don't know when or if I will return, but I will talk to you later," Annie said as she snapped the phone shut and left the restroom.

As she walked toward her mother's table, Annie noticed a perceptible difference in the atmosphere in the almost empty pub. Three other very large men were standing with their backs to her facing Ydris and Martin McDonald. One of the man had long flowing white blonde hair; he was the biggest man she had ever seen.

"Ydris!" the blonde male whispered in astonishment. "I thought you were dead. Where have you been all this time?"

Annie was started by what happened next. Her mother growled and launched herself at the giant blonde male.

"You bastard!" Ydris Leland screamed as she tore into the man, punching, biting and kicking at him. "You left me there, Tygir. You left me there so V-Lane could find me. You left me there to die." She screamed as she wailed at him.

"No, Ydris. I came back for you. The Drachii told me you were dead." The male said has he pulled her close. He held his arms tightly around her, so she could not do any damage.

Her mother managed to push him away. "You're a liar. I don't believe you!"

Annie stepped along side her mother and stared at the man; her hands fisted at her sides. She was ready to jump him if he touched her mother again. She looked at his face. His eyes looked insane as he stared first at her mother, and then at her. He looked like some crazy berserker from an old viking saga. He scared the hell out of out Annie.

From the expression of his face, the man seemed to not believe what he was seeing. He held her mother's gaze for a long while, and then his eyes slowly shifted in her direction again. He stared at her for a long time as if challenging her. Annie held his gaze; she refused to to be cowed by him, but through her peripheral vision, she saw that the other two large males were acting just as strangely.

The man called Tygir suddenly pulled Annie close and sniffed her. The other two males leaned in and smelled her too. A collective gasp went through the three of them.

"Get your hands off her!" Ydris growled as she pulled her daughter away

Red hot anger and a stronger, deeper emotion suffused Annie's brain. Suddenly she was growling just like her mother; she did not recognize the sounds that came out of her own mouth. The fight or flight response kicked in, and she sure didn't feel like running. A feeling she never had before came over her. Annie Leland, who had never laid a hand in anger on another person in her life, was tingling with anticipation; her whole body was vibrating as a primal urge to tear someone apart came over her. She crouched into a fighting stance.

Instead of getting angry, Tygir responded with a weird smile

Who are you?" he asked softly.

"She is your daughter, Tygir! She is your half Fae daughter." Annie heard her mother say, but her voice had a strange husky quality to it. She turned and looked at her mother; Ydris was crying.

"You mean this crazy looking bastard is my father? Ah, Christ! Can my life get any shittier?" Annie whispered to no one in particular.

The giant Draghar warrior tossed back his head and laughed.


End file.
